Posted by Shawn. T. on August 2, 2004, at 17:42:43
In reply to Norepinephrine vs. Dopamine, posted by KaraS on August 2, 2004, at 16:47:03
I'll outline the current theories for you; maybe someone else can offer some recommendations about meds.
Gary Aston-Jones thinks that "the phasic mode of LC activity may promote focused or selective attention, whereas the tonic mode may produce a state of high behavioral flexibility or scanning attentiveness." Note that the LC is the locus coeruleus, the location of most norepinephrine neurons in the brain. See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=10560036 and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=Abstract&list_uids=12802890
Several researchers such as Kelly Berridge have suggested that dopamine is involved in certain types of motivation. Berridge says that dopamine mediates incentive salience, or wanting incentives. Salamone and Correa (2002) think that dopamine might be involved in activational motivation. They define this as "activation for initiating and sustaining instrumental actions; tendency to work for food." See http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=9858756&dopt=Abstract and http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve&db=PubMed&list_uids=12445713&dopt=Abstract and http://www.neurotransmitter.net/wanting.html
Shawn
poster:Shawn. T.
thread:373267
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040730/msgs/373288.html