You have probably heard of dopamine. The substance also known as the "feel-good hormone". Drugs such as cocaine cause a surge of dopamine in the brain.
Normally, a protein in the brain called the dopamine transporter (DAT) helps regulate dopamine levels and prevent the brain from thinking that every experience is pleasurable. However, when affected by cocaine, the brain is unable to regulate dopamine levels. Previously, researchers did not know how cocaine affects the different transporters in the brain, but a new study from the University of Copenhagen has changed that.
"We have learned how cocaine binds to the dopamine transporter, which is a protein responsible for regulating dopamine levels in the brain. What we did was describe the structure of the dopamine transporter, which gave us molecular-level insight into how it is inhibited by cocaine," says PhD Student Jeppe Cederholm Nielsen, who is one of the researchers responsible for the new study. When the brain is unable to regulate dopamine levels, everything we do seems great, the researchers explain.
Cocaine does not make the brain release more dopamine, but it prevents it from regulating and removing dopamine. When we experience something as pleasurable, it is because the dopamine that is released in the brain stimulates the reward center. The role of the dopamine transporter is to stop this process by removing dopamine.
" Professor Claus Løland, Department of Neuroscience, University of Copenhagen He adds: "When coca.