According to "Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine," dopamine is an essential neurotransmitter found in the substantia nigra of the midbrain. As a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, or CNS, it is produced in presynaptic neurons...
The electrolytes in your body help establish muscle action and blood acidity. They also play other important roles in your vitality and health. Because electrolytes can easily be lost through your sweat and urine or as a result of an underlying...
The brain requires a balance of chemicals to function properly. When imbalances occur, a person is at risk for physical, as well as a variety of mental, conditions to occur. One disorder related to such imbalances is bipolar disorder. The brain...
Restless leg syndrome causes the legs to feel uncomfortable when sitting or lying down, leading to spasms, twitching and a general need to move or handle the legs. Researchers continue to investigate the exact cause of restless leg syndrome,...
Tyrosine is a nonessential amino acid your body uses to manufacture proteins. Tyrosine is made from the amino acid phenylalanine and was identified in the mid 1800s as a byproduct of the breakdown of casein, a protein found in cow's milk. This...
The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke reports that six out of every 1,000 children are diagnosed with autism. This neurological condition is characterized by various impairments, such as difficulty communicating, social...
Dopamine is rarely prescribed as a medication for personal use. It is primarily used in emergency rooms, where it is given intravenously as a treatment of shock after heart attack or to speed up the heartbeat if the heartbeat is dangerously low or...
Researchers have observed low brain levels of serotonin and hypersensitivity to dopamine in subjects with primary headaches, headaches that do not result from another medical condition. Drugs that raise the brain’s levels of serotonin and...
People with restless legs syndrome find their legs becoming very uncomfortable when they lie or sit down. The discomfort is so intense, people often will need to get up and walk around to relieve the feeling. This condition can begin at any age,...
Your brain makes dopamine in neurons, or nerve cells, that use it to communicate with other neurons. Each neuron has both transmitter and receptor cites to send and receive dopamine. It is a neurotransmitter. Specialized networks of neurons which...
Parkinson's disease, also called shaking palsy, is a slowly progressive disease of the nervous system. Symptoms begin when there is an imbalance of dopamine and acetylcholine. These substances transfer messages between nerve cells that control...
Neurotransmitters are chemical messengers in the brain that influence feelings and mood. When neurotransmitters are imbalanced, the risk for having a psychiatric condition is increased. Depression is related to an imbalance of the neurotransmitter...
Parkinson's disease is a condition in which neurons in the brain are gradually killed. The neurons that are killed are those that produce large quantities of dopamine, which is a chemical that the brain uses to control movement and other actions....
Schizophrenia is a chronic, debilitating brain disorder. It is characterized by psychotic behavior in which patients "lose touch" with reality. It is also accompanied by hallucinations, delusions, dysfunctional or "disorganized" thinking and...
Dopamine is an essential neurotransmitter. Like other neurotransmitters, it's responsible for transmitting electrical signals from the brain to other parts of the body. The University of Texas says "dopamine affects brain processes that control...
Nutritional therapy for depression has been the subject of both scrutiny and celebration over the last few decades. While one school of thought argues that using vitamins and minerals to treat mental health problems could be dangerous,...
Requip, or ropinirole, is a prescription medication used to treat the symptoms of Parkinson's disease, which includes stiffness, tremors, muscle spasms and poor muscle control, states Drugs.com. Additionally, this medication is prescribed for...
Attention deficient hyperactivity disorder, or ADHD, is usually first diagnosed in childhood and often continues through adolescence and adulthood. Children with ADHD have trouble paying attention and may act without thinking about the result,...
Experts believe that an imbalance of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters is a contributing cause of many mental illnesses that affect teens. Most theories of mental illness posit that genes, brain structure and environmental factors, such as...
Dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain, plays a role in how you feel and has been linked to addiction and pleasure, according to Mayoclinic.com, as well as focus and memory. Although exact causes of obsessive compulsive behavior, OCD, are...
Of all the rich chemicals in the amazing organ we call the brain, dopamine plays one of the most dramatic roles. Too little dopamine can cause slowed movement, apathy and lack of motivation. Too much dopamine is associated with schizophrenia and...
Dopamine is a chemical that your brain and other parts of your body produce to exert various effects throughout your body. The striatum is one part of the brain where dopamine exerts an effect. Disturbances in the actions of dopamine are at the...
For adults (and children over the age of 10) who suffer from psychotic conditions like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (manic depression), Seroquel may be the drug used to treat their condition. It helps relieve the symptoms of these disorders...
According to the World Health Organization, depression, anxiety and other mood disorders are the most prevalent causes of chronic illness in the world. A mood disorder can be debilitating and emotionally painful. Fortunately, there are medical and...
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) defines OCD, or obsessive-compulsive disorder, as an anxiety disorder where the patient experiences obsessions (thoughts and ideas) and/or compulsions (driven behaviors). OCD is thought to be caused by a...
Parkinson's disease is a chronic and progressive motor system disorder for which there is currently no cure. It is a nondiscriminatory condition that afflicts both men and women of all races and ethnicities. Generally diagnosed in people who are...
The neurotransmitter dopamine has many functions in your brain. For example, dopamine affects your movement, how you experience pleasure and your emotions, notes the University of Texas at Austin. Having an imbalance of dopamine in your brain can...
Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that transmits impulses between nerve cells, called neurons. It has numerous effects in the body and many additional effects have been hypothesized. If the body's dopamine level is too high or too low ill...
Restless leg syndrome, or RLS is a neurological disorder characterized by an unpleasant urge to move your legs to stop uncomfortable or odd sensations. RLS sensations usually occur at night and may interfere with sleep. People with RLS may...
