Sunday, September 20, 2026 Evidence-led medical research news
The First Cohort
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dopamine

4 stories tagged "dopamine"

Brain & Aging

In Mice, Early-Life Stress Writes a Molecular Mark Onto the Brain's Reward Neurons. Turn One Enzyme Down, and It Never Sets

Early-life stress raises an enzyme called SETD7 in the brain's dopamine neurons, loosening the DNA around stress genes so they fire too easily into adulthood. When researchers blocked it in mice, the stressed animals did not develop the same anxiety-like stress sensitivity, and stayed as social and

Metabolic & Weight

Orforglipron Reaches Deep Into the Brain's Reward Circuit and Turns the Dopamine Down

In mice engineered with human GLP-1 receptors, the new oral pills reached the central amygdala, a deep reward hub, and thinned the dopamine payoff of eating for pleasure. The government's addiction institute is already watching.

Brain & Aging

Lead Strips Dopamine From the Exact Brain Circuit ADHD Drugs Are Built to Rescue

Childhood lead keeps landing on the same target: the striatal dopamine circuit that ADHD drugs are built to rescue. A Philadelphia cohort just tied it to real diagnoses, not test scores.

Brain & Aging

A Federal Court Put This Pesticide Back on Your Food. UCLA Just Showed It More Than Doubles Parkinson's Risk.

Chlorpyrifos was pulled from American homes in 2001 and ordered off food crops in 2021. A manufacturer sued, won, and it's back on apples and strawberries while the science against it gets stronger.