Exploring dopamine as the master regulator of brain circuitry and mental health genome

Abstract

Artificially increasing dopamine transmission is the common mechanism by which substances with addictive potential lead to addiction. A key area of research in neurobiology is the role of dopamine. Significant advancements have been made in uncovering the intracellular signaling pathways that mediate both dopamine’s immediate effects and its long-term influence on brain function. Recent discoveries have also highlighted specific molecules that could serve as potential therapeutic targets for neurological and psychiatric disorders. While understanding several important caveats, we believe dopamine acts as a master regulator of brain circuitry across major chromosomes mapping the mental health genome. This view may have important clinical relevance, emphasizing the critical role of dopaminergic activity across the genome. Importantly, we are cognizant that dopamine does not work in insolation, and its finite actions are due to a highly interactive network (known as the brain reward cascade), involving at least seven other major neurotransmitters.

Keywords

Dopamine / Addiction / Genetics / Brain reward cascade / Psychiatric disorders

Acknowledgments

The authors appreciate the expert edits by Margaret A. Madigan.

Funding

Kenneth Blum is NIH recipient of R41 MD012318/MD/ NIMHD NIH HHS/United States, while Rajendra D. Badgaiyan is the recipient of NIH R01NS073884.

Conflict of interest

Kenneth Blum and Kai-Uwe Lewandrowski are the Editorial Board Members but were not in any way involved in the editorial and peer-review process conducted for this paper, directly or indirectly. Separately, other authors declared that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have influenced the work reported in this paper. Kenneth Blum holds patents, both domestic and foreign, related to pro-dopamine regulation complexes and genetic testing for addiction risk.

Author contributions

Conceptualization: Kenneth Blum

Writing-original draft: Kenneth Blum, Eric R. Braverman, Igor Elman, Panayotis K. Thanos, Albert Pinhasov

Writing-review & editing: All authors

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Not applicable.

Availability of data

Not applicable.

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