Polymorphic Dopamine (₯) - Prequel

• submitted: 2024-03-19 CASE Science, Center for the Advancement of Science Education, National Taiwan University
• accepted:  2024-04-19
• published: 2024-24-24 [中文] : 多變多巴胺——前傳

  

  Dopamine Girl ₯: First time we met, appreciate your kindness ~

"Dopamine" in the brain affects many different aspects of our daily life, including regulating emotions, learning, memory and movement. Dopamine in the body is related to the degree of vasoconstriction/relaxation, reduces insulin production when blood sugar is too low, and can also protect the intestinal lining. "She" seems to be our good friend, but not enough dopamine can cause Parkinson's disease, and too much can lead to low blood pressure, hallucinations, impulse control disorders such as addiction, mania, and increased aggression[1]. Once upon a time, the "happy dopamine" in the general population could also make people "extremely happy and sad"?! The prerequisite for in-depth understanding is to first have a glimpse of "her" shaping process in science. This article refers to dopamine in the first person of a woman as a tribute to the first female scientist who discovered it.

Teenage Dopamine (₯): Famous From Disease Research Onwards

Dopamine was "born" outside London in 1957 (the time it was discovered in the human brain). Kathleen Montagu's filter paper chromatography method identified evidence of dopamine in the brains of multiple species, including humans.

Then in 1958, Arvid Carlsson and his colleagues at the Swedish National Heart Institute discovered the function of the dopamine neurotransmitter. Carlson won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 2000 for showing that dopamine is not only a "precursor" of norepinephrine and epinephrine - a compound that precedes another in a metabolic pathway - but is also a "Neurotransmitter" (Figure 1[2]).

Dopamine was unknown in the scientific community before the age of ten. In 1967, a breakthrough was made in the research of levodopa (L-DOPA). In the past ten years, the research boom in brain functions, receptor identification and related pharmacology, antipsychotic drugs, etc. has been accelerated. . Dopamine, who was in her twenties, gradually became famous through academic exploration, and her understanding gradually took shape[3].

If you break down the name of dopamine, "amine" is her "surname". It belongs to catecholamines and phenylethylamine, two organic chemicals in the amine family. "Dopa" is the precursor chemical substance whose "name" is levodopa. Interestingly, "Dopa" is also a natural substance "Dopa" created by the "God ADOPA" in the magical terminology of the Renaissance! (Picture 2[4])

Dopamine(₯) in Female Youth: Spokesperson of Happiness

At the age of 21, dopamine established its most widely circulated identity: "happy hormone" and "happy molecule". In 1978 Roy Wise published a seminal paper showing that dopamine, at least in its role in a circuit near the middle of the brain, is necessary for feeling good. Next, it supports Wise's hypothesis that dopamine is a "happy" signal, which becomes the basis of the connection between dopamine and happiness.

Dopamine(₯) and not confused at 40? Care about reward motivation and goals

However, the happy dopamine status lasted for about 20 years. At the age of 41, she seemed unable to maintain her status as a happy molecule. Kent Berridge and Terry Robinson proposed in 1998 that dopamine is not the neurotransmitter of pleasure, but a stimulus that regulates rewards and triggers the desire to "want", developing a contemporary Addiction theory and redefines dopamine as a "desire signal": the dopamine system can modulate the incentive salience of rewards, regulating incentive value in a way that is separate from hedonic and reward learning. Clearly stated in the paper:

"The dopamine system is necessary for "want" motivation, but not for "likes" or learning new "likes" and "dislikes." [5]

The precise nature of variable dopamine continues to be challenged into the 21st century. John Salamone and Mercè Correa, discussing the changing theories of this period under the heading "Mysterious Motivational Functions" in 2012, noted that what was once thought to be dopamine " "Hedonic" or "reward" function markers actually reflect more complex "motivation and goal-directed action" regulatory functions, such as effort processes, perception of effort-related or opportunity costs, and decision-making. Other new research has also introduced dopamine Neuronal responses to aversive stimuli, and topics such as reinforcement learning or habit formation. As the concept continues to evolve, pathology of dopamine behavioral activation processes has become more clinically significant for motivational dysfunction in patients with depression, schizophrenia, substance abuse, and other disorders.

The exact nature of dopamine has been a hotly debated issue. In 2017, the American Scientist discussed the scientific uncertainty of dopamine's physiological role as the "currency of desire" and pointed out that some studies believe that dopamine sends desire signals in the brain's reward system, while others emphasize that the brain predicts rewards and can guide accordingly. Behavior. The other argument is to separate the differences, but both explanations are valid. The scientific consensus is that dopamine does not neurologically define happiness, but it drives us to unravel the intricate mysteries of neurotransmitters in the brain[6].

Today’s Dopamine(₯): Her sultriness fascinate science

Dopamine, 67 years old this year, is scientifically known to live mainly in dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area of ​​the midbrain, substantia nigra compacta, arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, and the gastrointestinal tract. Not only can it work with gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) to help olfactory sensory neurons detect and distinguish odors[7], but if it dynamically interacts with serotonin, it can also affect human social behavior[8].

Today, dopamine is no longer a simple brain chemical. Our understanding of "her" also includes early pleasure molecules, mid-term desire signals, reward systems, motivational functions, and later more complex motivation and goal-oriented action regulators. It is also a key controller that is closely related to memory, sleep, and movement sensation. With the continuous scientific understanding, the exact characters of dopamine continue to change. When I see the "Ho Ho" in her formula smiling (picture 3), I can't help but say that the more we understand dopamine, the more addictive it becomes.

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[1] Collingwood, C. What is dopamine? Apr.28.2023, The Royal Institution. https://www.rigb.org/explore-science/explore/blog/what-dopamine

[2] Channer, B., Matt, S. M., Nickoloff-Bybel, E. A., Pappa, V., Agarwal, Y., Wickman, J., & Gaskill, P. J. (2023). Dopamine, immunity, and disease. Pharmacological Reviews, 75(1), 62-158.

[3] Björklund, A., & Dunnett, S. B. (2007). Fifty years of dopamine research. Trends in Neurosciences, 30(5), 185-187.

[4] Internet Archive, The Enochian Magick Of Dr. John Dee. The Most Powerful System Of Magick In Its Original, Unexpurgated Form By Geoffrey James, ark:/13960/t2h78ww58

[5] Berridge, K. C., & Robinson, T. E. (1998). What is the role of dopamine in reward: hedonic impact, reward learning, or incentive salience?. Brain Research Reviews, 28(3), 309-369.

[6] Szalavitz, M. Dopamine: The Currency of Desire, Scientific American, Jan 1, 2017, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dopamine-the-currency-of-desire/

[7] EurekAlert, How neurotransmitters work together to detect and discriminate odors. Nov. 28. 2023. https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1009395

[8] EurekAlert, First-in-humans discovery reveals brain chemicals at work influencing social behavior. Feb. 26. 2024, https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1035368

Research: Practicing one exhale and one inhale can alleviate Long Covid symptoms

Chinese version of 研究: 練習一呼一吸可緩解長新冠症狀 @ https://vocus.cc/article/65c9f523fd897800013b738e

Practicing one exhale and one inhale can alleviate Long Covid symptoms

British Studies: The latest 2024 study on HEART Rate Variability Biofeedback for LOng COVID Dysautonomia (HEARTLOC) by the University of Leeds in the UK shows that simple breathing exercises twice a day can alleviate the symptoms of Long Covid. Results showed that participants experienced reduced symptoms, slept better, and improved physical function.

Breathing Method: Resonant breathing, repeated for 10 minutes: inhale for 4 seconds, exhale for 6 seconds

Manoj Sivan, University of Leeds said:

"Developing new treatments to help these patients is crucial. Our research shows that resonant breathing is a simple and effective technique that can significantly improve symptoms. It requires little medical intervention, and the technology is affordable. We have learned from patients The feedback there has been very positive.”

Research methods: Participants used a heart rate variability app on their phones, which provided breathing guidelines and allowed them to track the effectiveness of the technology. While they completed the breathing exercises, they used chest-strap heart rate monitors to monitor the effects. The resulting data, combined with heart rate data from participants wearing Fitbit Charge 5 smartwatches for 6 weeks during the study, was used to analyze health progress.

Although this is only a small study, it also supports previous findings published in Nature Communications: Breathing and brain activity are related, and breathing can regulate sleep oscillations and memory reactivation in humans, thus also providing a way to save the brain. 

Note: Make sure the air is clean and unpolluted.

Spent Coffee Grounds, Not a Waste at all

 Chinese version of  

咖啡渣，一點也不渣 @ https://vocus.cc/article/65f904b2fd89780001b7fde8 ; 

咖啡渣為何不渣? 渣中寶貝成分 @ https://vocus.cc/article/65fa5722fd89780001a7da9f

Spent Coffee Grounds, Not a Waste at all

According to the International Coffee Organization (ICO), world coffee consumption is expected to increase by 2.2% in 2023/24, reaching 177 million bags. Among them, Taiwan’s coffee consumption will increase by 8.7% in 2022/23 compared with the 2021/22 coffee year. There are hundreds of benefits of coffee. Drinking a cup of coffee can even work together to seal off COVID-19 for six hours.

What about spent coffee grounds (SCG), then?

Global coffee consumption produces millions of tons of waste spent coffee grounds every year, which can cause damage to wildlife and the environment. However, if we can recycle it properly, spent coffee grounds can be used not only as a general household cleaning helper to remove oil, deodorize and dehumidify, but also can be used to grow plants, feed animals, serve as raw materials for thermal power generation, or purify wastewater contaminated by heavy metals. . Various organic compounds in spent coffee grounds can also react with and deplete ozone, reducing indoor ozone concentration by 25% to 43%, and serve as a green adsorbent for the industrial dye Rhodamine B (RB).

A new study published in the Journal of Chemical Technology and Biotechnology once again proves that spent coffee grounds can be repurposed as a helper in removing environmental toxins, becoming a powerful adsorbent for bentazone.

Bentazidone is a herbicide commonly used in agriculture and is highly neurotoxic. In the study, the researchers found that when they used zinc chloride to activate the carbon in spent coffee grounds, the activated carbon showed 70 percent efficiency in removing benzophenone. Activated carbon is also effective in highly sensitive testing of contaminants in water. The researchers believe that the removal efficiency of bentazone using spent coffee grounds and using commercial activated carbon are very close, but reusing discarded waste spent coffee grounds is a better circular economy solution.

ingredients of spent coffee grounds (SCG): click for english version

The precious ingredients of spent coffee grounds (SCG) include:

• organic matter: There are more than 1,000 kinds of organic substances, including minerals, lipids, proteins, peptides, free amino acids, and crude fibers (lignin, hemicellulose, and cellulose).
•  biologically active substances: Bioactive substances are biologically active substances with antioxidant, antibacterial and anticancer activities, such as alkaloids (caffeine and trigonaline), diterpenes (caffeol and kaweol) and polyphenols (tannins, tocopherols) and anthocyanins).
•  in growth medium: Higher levels of lutein, beta-carotene and chlorophyll were detected in cultured lettuce leaves when waste coffee grounds (up to 10%) were present in the growth medium.

REFERENCE

•  International Coffee Organization, COFFEE REPORT AND OUTLOOK, December 2023
•  王鈺雯, 咖啡渣的新用處, CASE報科學. 2016.12.21. https://case.ntu.edu.tw/blog/?p=26576
•  Hsieh, P. F., & Wen, T. Y. (2020). Evaluation of ozone removal by spent coffee grounds. Scientific Reports, 10(1), 124.
•   Vo, T. S., Hossain, M. M., & Kim, K. (2023). Natural bamboo powder and coffee ground as low-cost green adsorbents for the removal of rhodamine B and their recycling performance. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 21487.
•   Rocha, B. C. D. S., Moraes, L. E. Z. D., Santo, D. E., Peron, A. P., Souza, D. C. D., Bona, E., & Junior, O. V. Removal Of Bentazone Using Activated Carbon From Spent Coffee Grounds. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology.
•  Dimitrijević, S., Milić, M., Buntić, A., Dimitrijević-Branković, S., Filipović, V., Popović, V., & Salamon, I. (2024). Spent Coffee Grounds, Plant Growth Promoting Bacteria, and Medicinal Plant Waste: The Biofertilizing Effect of High-Value Compost. Sustainability, 16(4), 1632.
• Andrade, C., Perestrelo, R., & Câmara, J. S. (2022). Valorization of spent coffee grounds as a natural source of bioactive compounds for several industrial applications—A volatilomic approach. Foods, 11(12), 1731.