lenstapes med-feel-good hormones

Feel-good hormones: their effects on our mind, mood and body

Hormones are the chemical messengers in your body. Glands release hormones into your bloodstream, which work on various organs and tissues to control everything from your body's function to your mood. One group of hormones are nicknamed the "feel-good hormones" because of the happy and, sometimes, euphoric feelings they produce. They're also known as neurotransmitters, which implies they transport information between nerve cells. What are the four feel-good hormones? Dopamine, serotonin, endorphins, and oxytocin. Simple…
dopamine: sense of pleasure

Dopamine: The pathway to pleasure

Dopamine can provide an intense feeling of reward. Dopamine is most notably involved in helping us feel pleasure as part of the brain’s reward system. Sex, shopping, and smelling pie baking in the oven can all cause dopamine release, often known as a "dopamine rush."This feel-good neurotransmitter also plays a role in reinforcement. That is why, after tasting one of those pies, we may return for another (or two, or three). Dopamine's darker side is…
Missing Dopamine Restored in Children With Atypical Brain Disorder by Gene Therapy

Missing Dopamine Restored in Children With Atypical Brain Disorder by Gene Therapy

A girl who has lived 8 years of her life with a very uncommon genetic brain disease that made her unable to talk or walk, got enrolled in a clinical trial whose results suggests the course of such inherited disorders can be altered by gene therapy, even after many years. The patient had AADC deficiency, a disorder that prevents the brain from making dopamine and serotonin, which are important molecules that enable brain cells to…