The role of the monoamines, serotonin in mental illnesses including depression is well recognized. All antidepressant drugs in clinical use increase acutely the availability of these monoamines at the synapse either by inhibiting their neuronal reuptake, inhibiting their intraneuronal metabolism, or increasing their release by blocking the α2 autoand heteroreceptors on the monoaminergic neuron....

Intrathecal methotrexate in children with leukemia is known to cause seizures, dementia, leukoencephalopathy and cognitive dysfunction. To investigate the role of brain amines in cognitive dysfunction, male Wistar rats were given multiple intracerebroventricular injections of methotrexate. Our earlier studies in this regard revealed disruption of brain monoamines in hippocampus with severe cyto...

Monoamines and neuropeptides interact to modulate most behaviors. To better understand these interactions, we have defined the roles of tyramine (TA), octopamine, and neuropeptides in the inhibition of aversive behavior in Caenorhabditis elegans. TA abolishes the serotonergic sensitization of aversive behavior mediated by the two nociceptive ASH sensory neurons and requires the expression of th...

Monoamines are well known to modulate locomotion in several vertebrate species. Coapplication of dopamine (DA) and serotonin (5-HT) has also been shown to potently induce fictive locomotor rhythms in isolated spinal cord preparations. However, a synergistic contribution of these monoamines to locomotor rhythmogenesis in vivo has never been examined. Here, we characterized the effects induced by...

To determine the monoamines dopamine (DA), noradrenaline (NAD) and serotonin (5-HT) in microdialysis samples, ion-pair liquid chromatography (LC) with electrochemical detection (ECD) is typically applied. Because of the low concentrations in the extracellular space (pM range), further dilution in the microdialysis samples, the complexity of the samples and the required temporal resolution, the ...

Understanding the mechanisms underlying complex behaviors requires a comprehensive investigation of the neurobiological factors that regulate and modulate their expression. Monoamines, such as serotonin, dopamine, and noradrenaline, serve a variety of essential physiological roles in modulating animal behavior. Furthermore, the evolutionary conservation of these aminergic systems spans across b...

In baboons the right cerebral hemisphere was embolised by a shower of microemboli, immediately followed by one large embolus designed to occlude the middle cerebral artery (MCA). One hour after embolism a significant, though small, reduction in blood flow and oxygen consumption of the embolised hemisphere was recorded, at which time the animals were killed and brain monoamines measured. Dopamin...

Synthesis of the monoamine neurotransmitters serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine is regulated by L-methylfolate, a derivate of the vitamin folate.

Being a mother can be very hard work, and finding enough food to feed your young is risky and time-consuming. But some parasitoid species give their young the best start in life by having an energy-rich meal ready and waiting when they emerge from the egg. The catch is that this very nutritious breakfast is the body of a hapless victim, its muscles paralysed by the mother’s venom. However, not ...