Contrary to the widely accepted belief that dopamine neurons predominantly, if not exclusively, respond to rewards or reward-predicting cues, the researchers uncovered that one of these genetic subtypes activates in response to bodily movement. Even more unexpected was the finding that these neurons did not respond to rewards in any way. Not only does this finding shed new light on the mysterious nature of the brain, it also opens new research directions for further understanding and potentially even treating Parkinson’s disease, which is characterized by the loss of dopamine neurons yet affects the motor system. The study was recently published in the journal Nature Neuroscience.
“When people think about dopamine, they likely think about reward signals,” said Northwestern’s Daniel Dombeck, who co-led the study. “But when the dopamine neurons die, people have trouble with movement. That’s what happens with Parkinson’s disease, and it’s been a confusing problem for the field. We found a subtype that are motor signaling without any reward response, and they sit right where dopamine neurons first die in Parkinson’s disease. That’s just another hint and clue that seems to suggest that there’s some genetic subtype that’s more susceptible to degradation over time as people age.” Read more...
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