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The study, reported in the journal  Neuroscience , found that amphetamine leads to changes in dopamine signaling. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that plays a role in memory, attention, learning and feelings of pleasure. "The dopamine system, which continues to develop throughout adolescence and young adulthood, is a primary target of psychostimulant drugs like amphetamine," said University of Illinois psychology professor Joshua Gulley, who led the new research. "Changes in dopamine function in response to repeated drug exposure are likely to contribute to the behavioral consequences -- addiction and relapse, for example -- that abusers experience." Parallels between rat and human development make rats a worthy model for the study of human drug addiction, which often begins in adolescence , Gulley said. "Rats exhibit many of the characteristics that human adolescents do. They tend to be more impulsive than adult rats; they tend to make more risky decisi...

These disorders can have disastrous personal, professional and financial consequences if not recognized or treated, researchers report in the journal  Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics . Authors of the paper include José Biller, MD, and first author Adolfo Ramirez-Zamora , MD, who completed a residency in neurology at Loyola. The article details the latest findings for treating impulse control disorders (ICDs) in Parkinson's disease patients, including adjusting medications, deep brain stimulation and a counseling technique called cognitive behavioral therapy. One large, previous national study found that approximately 14 percent of Parkinson's disease patients experience at least one ICD. The disorders are more common in men. Men are more likely to display hypersexuality and pathological gambling, while women are more likely to exhibit compulsive eating and buying. Potentially catastrophic consequences include financial ruin, divorce and loss of employment. Patients ...