Today's Radio Solution from 4BC

6 February 2008

Today we had a question from Melissa Wu, Australia's youngest National Diving Champion, who is fitting in her school work around her gruelling 6 hour per day training schedule. Melissa had a tricky question in relation to her school work.

She wanted to know if Dopamine makes Parkinson's disease more active or less active?

Parkinson's Disease occurs when there is a lack of Dopamine in a specific part of the brain. It happens when there is a destruction of brain cells in the substantia nigra region which is the area responsible for many types of muscular movement. The substantia nigra controls muscular movements by releasing a neurotransmiter called dopamine which is needed to carry nerve messages from one brain cell to another resulting in smooth controlled movements. Without Dopamine the brain has abnormal firing patterns causing the jerky uncontrolled movements of Parkinsons.

There is also evidence that a lack of Dopamine is present in people with ADD. It seems that Dopamine's main role is to slow things down and keep things calm and controlled.