DOPAMINE: GENETIC CONNECTION

DOPAMINE: GENETIC CONNECTION
A University of Cambridge report indicates that individuals can be predisposed to drug addiction by the way their brains are wired for the production and transmission of dopamine. Dopamine acts as a signaling molecule connected to the reward pathway causing cravings for many cigarette smokers and other addicts. Dopamine functions in the brain as a neurotransmitter activating five types of dopamine receptors. Dopamine receptors are the common neurological targets for drug use. Dopamine receptors in the brain are responsible for neurological processes, such as: motivation, cognition, learning, pleasure, reality, and fine motor control. Dopamine in the frontal lobes of the brain controls the flow of information from other areas of the brain; it acts as a-sort-of information traffic control in the brain. A decline of dopamine in the frontal lobes can cause a decline in memory, problem solving, and attention. Drugs can either stimulate, or suppress the dopamine brain function that transmits the prediction error of rewarding outcomes. Dopamine is believed to provide a teaching signal in the brain that is responsible for acquiring new behavior. Since we learn to repeat behaviors that lead to maximum rewards, drug addicts crave substances that give predictable rewards, such as: sexually, hallucinatory, motivational. Dopamine agonists, or stimulators trick the brain into thinking it is receiving dopamine. Dopamine antagonists, or blockers, prevent the body from using, or producing dopamine. A decrease in dopamine receptors can render an individual vulnerable to addiction.

The research being done at Cambridge is important to answer the question: Is the tendency toward addiction connected to genetic disposition? A next step would be to identify the gene(s) associated with the diminished supply of brain receptors.


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