Description:
Since its discovery 50 years ago, brain dopamine has been implicated in
the control of movement and cognition, and is concerned with diverse
brain diseases such as Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia and drug
addiction. This book is an illustrated biography of the dopamine
molecule, from its synthesis in the brain to its signalling mechanisms
and ultimately to its metabolic breakdown. Using colour illustrations
of positron emission tomography (PET) scans, each chapter presents a
specific stage in the biochemical pathway for dopamine. Writing for
researchers and graduate students, Paul Cumming presents a compilation
of all that has been learned about dopamine through molecular imaging,
a technology which allows the measurement of formerly invisible
processes in the living brain. He reviews current technical
controversies in the interpretation of dopamine imaging, and presents
key results illuminating brain dopamine in illness and health.
Table of contents:
1. The life history of dopamine; 2. Enzymology of tyrosine hydroxylase;
3. The assay of tyrosine hydroxylase; 4. Enzymology of aromatic amino
acid decarboxylase (AAADC); 5. PET studies of DOPA utilization; 6.
Conjugation and sulfonation of dopamine and its metabolites; 7.
Dopamine synthesis and metabolism rates; 8. MAO activity in brain; 9.
Vesicular storage of dopamine; 10. Dopamine release: from vesicles to
behavior; 11. The plasma membrane dopamine transporter (DAT); 12.
Dopamine receptors; 13. Imaging dopamine D1 receptors; 14. Imaging
dopamine D2 receptors; 15. Factors influencing D2 binding in living
brain; 16. The absolute abundance of dopamine receptors in brain; 17.
Perspectives.
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