Posted by Ame Sans Vie on August 13, 2003, at 1:10:48
In reply to Smoking...effect on dopamine, posted by jlo820 on August 13, 2003, at 0:22:39
I'd say that nicotine most certainly has an effect on dopamine, considering that most (all?) reinforcing drugs someway or another end up affecting the mesolimbic dopaminergic pathways... but that's just an educated guess.
One thing I *can* tell you is that smokers have been shown to be at less risk of developing Parkinson's disease, which I assume means that cigarette smoking is somehow either neuroprotective to dopamine neurons, or that it helps keep dopamine levels high.
poster:Ame Sans Vie
thread:250452
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030812/msgs/250460.html