Adenosine receptors are G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that mediate the physiological functions of adenosine. In the central nervous system adenosine A(2A) receptors (A(2A)Rs) are highly enriched in striatopallidal neurons where they form functional oligomeric complexes with other GPCRs such us the dopamine D(2) receptor (D(2)R). Furthermore, it is assumed that the formation of balanced A(...

Induction of partner preferences in monogamous prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster) was used to examine the possibility that blockade of glucocorticoid receptors may be rewarding in females of this species. We first examined the ability of either a mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (spironolactone) or a glucocorticoid receptor antagonist (RU-486) to induce partner preferences in females. Pe...

1. The effects of a number of dopaminergic agonists and antagonists upon the soma of a prothoracic inhibitory motoneurone of the cockroach (Periplaneta americana) have been recorded under voltage-clamp conditions. 2. Dopamine generates inward currents that are extremely voltage-dependent: currents increase rapidly at membrane potentials more negative than about -120 to -150 mV and also show a p...

Pathophysiological processes that underlie the profound neuropsychiatric disturbances in schizophrenia are poorly understood. However, the clinical course of the disease, and a number of clinical and basic science observations, provide direction for formulating pathophysiological models that could be empirically tested. For example, repeated psychostimulant administration to healthy subjects ca...

Humans and animals take actions quickly when they expect that the actions lead to reward, reflecting their motivation. Injection of dopamine receptor antagonists into the striatum has been shown to slow such reward-seeking behavior, suggesting that dopamine is involved in the control of motivational processes. Meanwhile, neurophysiological studies have revealed that phasic response of dopamine ...

RATIONALE It was recently demonstrated that the priming stimulation effect (PSE) in the runway model of intracranial self-stimulation (ICSS) can be used as a model system to study the motivational effects of drugs. However, the characteristics of this novel experimental model have not been fully clarified. OBJECTIVE To elucidate the involvement of dopamine uptake inhibition in motivated behav...

ackground: Dopamine agonists and antagonists can reduce abnormal movements and vocalizations (tics) in Tourette syndrome TS); however, dopamine-responsive abnormal function in specific brain regions has not been directly demonstrated in TS. We sought o identify dopamine-modulated brain regions that function abnormally in TS by combining functional magnetic resonance imaging fMRI), a working mem...

The perforant path input (pp) is a major direct source of specific sensory information for the CA1 hippocampal region. The termination area of this pathway, the stratum lacunosum-moleculare, has the highest concentration of dopamine receptors in the hippocampus. We have examined the properties of the pp input and its modulation by dopamine. The input is glutamatergic and has a larger NMDA compo...

BACKGROUND Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a severe problem among soldiers with combating experience difficult to treat. The pathogenesis is still not fully understood at the psychological level. Therefore, genetic research became a focus of interest. The identification of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) may help to predict, which persons are at high risk to develop PTSD as a sta...

Degeneration of dopamine neurons in the midbrain causes symptoms of the movement disorder, Parkinson disease. Dopamine neurons are generated from proliferating progenitor cells localized in the embryonic ventral midbrain. However, it remains unclear for how long cells with dopamine progenitor character are retained and if there is any potential for reactivation of such cells after cessation of ...