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Dopamine is much more than just the messenger of happiness
The messenger substance dopamine produced by the body is popularly also called "happiness hormone". The hormone is not only responsible for the feeling of happiness, but is also used among other things in emergency medicine, such as a cardiovascular shock. At a conference, researchers are working on the important neurotransmitter.
The "messenger of happiness"
Dopamine is a body-produced messenger or neurotransmitter that mediates information between nerve cells and between muscle and nerve cells. It controls both emotional and mental as well as motor reactions. Dopamine is known primarily as a "messenger of happiness" or as a "happiness hormone". It is responsible for the fact that we can feel happiness, writes the Medical University of Vienna (in short: MedUni Vienna).
Dopamine is known primarily as a "messenger of happiness" or as a "happiness hormone". But the neurotransmitter has much more impact on humans. (Image: Zerbor / fotolia.com) Serious health problems
According to the experts, so-called adrenaline kicks, for example during sports, are based on the same pattern. Adrenalin is therefore a close relative of dopamine. If too little or too much dopamine is involved, serious health problems can also arise. If too few dopamine molecules are released in general, it can lead to Parkinson's, too much can lead to delusion, hallucinations or schizophrenia.
Dopamine in emergency medicine
Dopamine is used in emergency medicine for circulatory stabilization in shock or impending shock states. These can occur, for example, in heart failure and heart attack.
However, the messenger substance has even more effects. For example, scientists from University College London found in an investigation that the decline in dopamine levels in elderly people means that those affected are less willing to take risks.
Dopamine distribution guilty of addictions
"In addition, the Dopaminausschüttung is guilty of the fact that people become addicted, that they always want to reach new levels in search of pleasure," explains Harald Sitte of the Institute of Pharmacology of MedUni Vienna in the announcement of the university. "Dopamine causes some people to be constantly on the lookout for the satisfaction of addictions."
According to Matthäus Willeit of the University Clinic for Psychiatry and Psychotherapy of MedUni Vienna, an excessive release of dopamine at the wrong moment can lead to "meaningless things that are otherwise meaningless. It can lead to delusion, hallucination or even schizophrenia. "
The two scientists are the organizers of the next week's Dopamin 2016 congress on the campus of the University of Vienna and the Center for Brain Research of the MedUni Vienna. Among other things, the conference will bring together researchers from basic research and the clinic.
Cause for the development of Parkinson's
It is not yet clear how this increased distribution will occur. As the university reported in its communication, however, a cause for the development of Parkinson's disease could be clarified. Oleh Hornykiewicz from the Center for Brain Research of the MedUni Vienna in the early 1960s: His group has detected the lack of dopamine in certain brain regions and identified it as a disease-causing cause.
In addition, Hornykiewicz was able to show that dopamine is "not easy to replenish," explains Sitte, after which he developed a kind of "pre-stage refill", the levodopa (L-dopa), a precursor of dopamine. This leads to an increase in the dopamine concentration in the basal cells of the cerebrum. (Ad)