Dopamine regulates the activity of neural networks in the prefrontal cortex that process working memory information, but its precise biophysical actions are poorly understood. The present study characterized the effects of dopamine on GABAergic inputs to prefrontal pyramidal neurons using whole-cell patch-clamp recordings in vitro. In most pyramidal cells, dopamine had a temporally biphasic eff...

Dopamine receptors previously identified in corpora allata (CA) of Manduca sexta last instars on the basis of dopamine effects on JH (juvenile hormone)/JH acid biosynthesis and cyclic AMP (cAMP) accumulation, were characterized pharmacologically. For this study, a broad spectrum of agonists or antagonists of D1, D2, D3 or D4 dopamine receptors, together with the dopamine metabolite N-acetyl-dop...

To characterize the signaling pathway by which the neurotransmitter dopamine modulates progesterone receptor (PR) activation, the steroid-dependent behavior lordosis was used in estrogen-primed ovariectomized Sprague-Dawley rats with stereotaxic implanted third ventricle cannulas. Lordosis was observed in response to solicitous males in females after central administration of the D1-like agonis...

OBJECTIVES To assess the evidence for the existence and prevalence of sleep attacks in patients taking dopamine agonists for Parkinson's disease, the type of drugs implicated, and strategies for prevention and treatment. DESIGN Review of publications between July 1999 and May 2001 in which sleep attacks or narcoleptic-like attacks were discussed in patients with Parkinson's disease. RESULTS...

Parkinson's disease is characterized by the degeneration of dopaminergic pathways projecting to the striatum. These pathways are implicated in reward prediction. In this study, we investigated reward and punishment processing in young, never-medicated Parkinson's disease patients, recently medicated patients receiving the dopamine receptor agonists pramipexole and ropinirole and healthy control...

The production of 50 kHz ultrasonic vocalizations in rats has been associated with both positive social interactions and appetitive behavioural situations. Furthermore, there is significant evidence showing that these vocalizations are controlled by the meso-limbic dopamine system. The purpose of this study was to perform a pharmacological analysis of 50 kHz calls by using dopamine and two dopa...

The restless legs syndrome is a neurological disorder characterised by the urge to move the extremities associated with paraesthesias, which are partially or totally relieved by movement, a worsening of symptoms at rest and in the evening or at night and, as a consequence, sleep disturbances. Restless legs syndrome is common and affects 1-10% of the population. The aetiology of restless legs sy...

S8 CONSULTANT SEPTEMBER 2008 (SUPPLEMENT) ABSTRACT: Dopamine receptor agonists have played an important role in antiparkinsonian therapy since the first ergoline derivative was introduced in 1974. The non-ergoline dopamine agonists, developed later to provide the benefits of the ergolines with fewer side effects, are currently used as both monotherapy and as adjunctive therapy to treat symptoms...