Dopamine emerged as the neurotransmitter of interest to neuropsychopharmacologists in the 1990s and remains today the neurotransmitter most relevant to motivated behavior. Dopamine has been implicated in the regulation of normal appetitive behaviors including feeding, drinking, maternal, and sexual behaviors and in pathological behaviors ranging from drug addiction to schizophrenia. Dopamine has an important influence on information processing through its effects on arousal and vigilance and on learning and memory. Dopamine is also essential for normal voluntary movement and seemingly for the translation of volition into action. The many roles of dopamine in the genesis and regulation of normal and abnormal behavior make it of special interest to clinical psychologists.

Dopamine Neuropharmacology

Dopamine is a biogenic monoamine belonging to a family of neurotransmitters called catecholamines, which ...

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