Tag Archive for 'Neurotransmitter'

Schematic diagram representing the mechanism of action of trigonelline. Image credit: Aktar et al., doi: 10.1007/s11357-023-00919-x.

Plant Alkaloid Trigonelline Improves Cognitive Functions, Study Suggests

Sep 26, 2023 by News Staff

In recent years, exploring natural compounds with functional properties to ameliorate aging-associated cognitive decline has become a research priority...

Yang et al. provide new insights into the mechanisms by which blue light interferes with vital metabolic pathways that are conserved between fly and human cells. Image credit: Pexels.

Excessive Blue Light Leads to Accelerated Aging in Fruit Flies, Research Finds

Aug 31, 2022 by News Staff

Blue light is becoming increasingly prevalent in artificial illumination, raising concerns about its potential health hazard to humans. In a new study,...

$Zacharopoulos et al. examined whether the concentrations of GABA in the adolescent brain could classify whether a student is lacking mathematical education. Image credit: T.J. Evans.$

Study: Lack of Mathematical Education Negatively Affects Developing Brain

Jun 9, 2021 by News Staff

A new study, published this month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that within the same society, adolescent students who specifically...

Thanarajah et al combined functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography (PET) to assess the brain’s response to food intake and discovered immediate and delayed dopamine release in distinct areas of the human brain; the study authors also identified areas where dopamine release reflected subjective wanting to eat, shedding light on how the brain transforms energetic signals into the desire to eat. Image credit: Thanaraja et al, doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2018.12.006.

Study: Our Brain Rewards Us Twice Per Meal

Jan 2, 2019 by News Staff

Our brain rewards us for every meal by releasing dopamine, a neurotransmitter that plays a starring role in motivating behavior. According to a new study,...

This image shows a colony of red harvester ants (Pogonomyrmex barbatus); a forager is marked with an identifying color. Image credit: Becca Nelson.

Neurotransmitter Dopamine Makes Harvester Ants More Productive: Study

Oct 2, 2018 by News Staff

Colonies of the red harvester ant (Pogonomyrmex barbatus) forage in the desert for seeds that provide both food and water. Foragers lose water while out...

Dopaminergic system and reward processing: dopaminergic neurons are located in the midbrain structures substantia nigra (SNc) and the ventral tegmental area (VTA); their axons project to the striatum (caudate nucleus, putamen and ventral striatum including nucleus accumbens), the dorsal and ventral prefrontal cortex; the mesolimbic dopamine pathway mediates the psychopharmacology of reward, whether that is a natural high or a drug-induced high, and is sometimes referred to as the pleasure center of the brain, with dopamine as the pleasure neurotransmitter. Image credit: Oscar Arias-Carrion et al, doi: 10.1186/1755-7682-7-29.

Study: Neurotransmitter Dopamine Plays Role in Human Bonding

Feb 20, 2017 by News Staff

Researchers have found for the first time that dopamine, a vital neurotransmitter in the brain, is involved in human bonding. The results appear in the...

Rosa californica in Irvine, CA. Image credit: Wintertanager J.T. Storey / CC BY-SA 3.0.

Stressed Plants Use Animal-Like Signals, New Study Shows

Jul 30, 2015 by News Staff

A new study published in the journal Nature Communications has shown that, despite not having a nervous system, plants send signals normally associated...