Research summaries for autism therapy: dopamine

definition of dopamine: Chemical that is a hormone and a neurotransmitter. Dopamine is important for normal functions of neurons, and plays a role in turning neurons on. Dopamine is important in many nervous system functions, including mood, sleep, movement, and motivation.
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Low-Dose Naltrexone for Disease Prevention and Quality of Life, Summarized Jun 17, 2009

Low-dose naltrexone may help increase social interactions and cheerfulness in some children with autism.

A dose of about 0.25 mg/kg naltrexone drug therapy every other day helped some children, and better social behaviors were seen on the days in between. The theory for how this works is that low-dose naltrexone increases production of opioids and dopamine activity in the brain, which can make the brain feel happier. Read more...

Vagal Activity, Early Growth, and Emotional Development, Summarized Sep 17, 2008

Massage therapy may help young children with autism to have better social behavior, use more facial expressions, and make more sounds.

The vagus nerve is important for the nervous system and social function. The vagus nerve goes from the brain to the gut, heart, ears, mouth, and voice. Children with autism have low activity of the vagus nerve. People with lower vagal activity also tend to have higher stress hormone (cortisol) levels and lower levels of the brain chemicals dopamine and serotonin. This review article describes vagal activity and how infant massage can be used to increase vagal activity. Read more...

Treatment of Autism Spectrum Disorders: Neurotransmitter Signaling Pathways Involved in Motivation and Reward as Therapeutic Targets, Summarized Sep 2, 2008

Several brain chemicals (neurotransmitters) may be good targets for future autism therapy drugs.

This article reviews genetic causes of autism and describes future approaches to drug therapy. The behaviors of people with autism can vary quite a bit. A great deal of research is going on to try and understand the biology and chemistry that form the basis of these behaviors. Many brain chemicals have been linked to autism and these might be targets for drug therapy. Some of the brain chemicals include oxytocin, vasopressin, dopamine, GABA, and acetylcholine. Read more...

Antagonistic Activity of Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) on Dopaminergic Modulation: Apomorphone-Induced Stereotypic Behavior in Mice, Summarized Oct 21, 2006

This article shows that mice treated with vitamin C (ascorbate) have a complicated response to the treatment: low doses produce more stereotyped behavior; and higher doses produce less. Dopamine agonists, or compounds that act like dopamine in the brain (for example, amphetamines), produce repetitive, stereotyped behavior in humans and other animals. This article showed that mice that were exposed to a dopamine agonist had less stereotyped behavior if they had been treated with vitamin C at a relatively high dose, and more stereotyped behavior when they were treated with a lower dose of vitamin C. Also, vitamin C at the higher dose made several psychiatric drugs, including haloperidol, more effective in treating these stereotyped behaviors.... Read more...

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