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2 - Dopamine in the brain
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 27 July 2009
Summary
In this chapter, I will attempt to briefly describe what dopamine consists of, where it is located in the brain, and what basic actions it has. Much of this information will be applied in Chapters 3 and 4 with reference to the roles of dopamine in normal and abnormal behavior.
The neurochemistry of dopamine
Like all brain neurotransmitters, dopamine is a chemical that contains most of the important building blocks of life – carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen. It is a phylogenetically old transmitter, found in primitive lizards and reptiles existing tens of millions of years ago. The chemical structure of dopamine is shown in Figure 2.1. Dopamine is known as a catecholamine, which derives from its having a catechol group and an amine group that are joined by an additional carbon pair. The catechol group consists of a hexagonal benzene (carbon-bonded) ring with two hydroxyl (oxygen and hydrogen, or OH) groups. The amine group is a molecule comprised of an atom of nitrogen and two atoms of hydrogen (NH2). The chemical structure of dopamine is not all that special, in that its atoms and molecules derive from some of the most common elements on Earth and especially those found in organic compounds. Carbon, in particular, is essential to life on Earth, partly because it so readily makes bonds with other biological molecules.
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- The Dopaminergic Mind in Human Evolution and History , pp. 19 - 36Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009