Although dopamine has been closely associated with prefrontal function, and with working memory in monkeys, the effects of dopamine agonists on human cognitive performance are poorly understood. We report the effects of a single dose of pergolide on young healthy subjects performing a variety of cognitive tests, including tests of memory and of frontal/executive function. Across this battery of...

Dopamine effects in the striatum are mediated principally through the D1 and D2 dopamine receptor subtypes, which are segregated to the direct and indirect striatal projection neurons. After degeneration of the nigrostriatal dopamine system, direct pathway neurons display a supersensitive response to D1 dopamine receptor agonists, which is demonstrated by the induction of immediate early genes ...

receptors, the in vivo imaging of dopamine and its receptors, the discovery of new dopamine agonists, the surprise revelation that the relatively simple neurotoxin 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,5,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) is an etiologic factor of parkinsonism in humans, and the development of novel approaches to bromocriptine therapy. The volume is divided into six main sections: anatomy, biochemist...

The dopamine agonists ropinirole and pramipexole exhibit highly specific affinity for the cerebral dopamine D3 receptor. Use of these medications in Parkinson's disease has been complicated by the emergence of pathologic behavioral patterns such as hypersexuality, pathologic gambling, excessive hobbying, and other circumscribed obsessive-compulsive disorders of impulse control in people having ...

Wijemanne S, Ondo W. Pract Neurol 2017;17:444–452. doi:10.1136/practneurol-2017-001762 AbstrAct Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a chronic neurological disorder that interferes with rest and sleep. It has a wide spectrum of symptom severity, and treatment is started when symptoms become bothersome. Dopamine agonists and calcium channel apha-2-delta antagonists (gabapentin, gabapentin enacarbil a...

Wijemanne S, Ondo W. Pract Neurol 2017;17:444–452. doi:10.1136/practneurol-2017-001762 AbstrAct Restless legs syndrome (RLS) is a chronic neurological disorder that interferes with rest and sleep. It has a wide spectrum of symptom severity, and treatment is started when symptoms become bothersome. Dopamine agonists and calcium channel apha-2-delta antagonists (gabapentin, gabapentin enacarbil a...