dopamine
[doh-puh-meen]
- Biochemistry. a catecholamine neurotransmitter in the central nervous system, retina, and sympathetic ganglia, acting within the brain to help regulate movement and emotion: its depletion may cause Parkinson's disease.Compare dopa.
- Pharmacology. a dopamine preparation used to increase the force of contraction of the heart in the treatment of shock.
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Compare levodopa.
Origin of dopamine
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for dopamine
Contemporary Examples
The hypothalamus becomes super-charged, the dopamine sets to racing—to violins, the piano, anything.
Flooding your brain with dopamine and serotonin, it not only heightens feelings of euphoria, but empathy and love as well.
It is entirely clear that the dopamine system responds to physical activity.
And there is evidence that the reverse is true as well, that physical activity levels respond to the dopamine system.
Particular versions of dopamine receptor genes have been associated with higher physical activity and lower body mass index.
dopamine
- a chemical found in the brain that acts as a neurotransmitter and is an intermediate compound in the synthesis of noradrenaline. Formula: (HO) 2 C 6 H 3 (CH 2) 2 NH 2
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Word Origin
from d (ihydr) o (xy) p (henylethyl) amine
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for dopamine
1959, from DOPA, the amino acid (from first letter of elements of dioxyphenylalanine), + -amine.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
dopamine
(dō′pə-mēn′)- A monoamine neurotransmitter formed in the brain by the decarboxylation of dopa and essential to the normal functioning of the central nervous system. A reduction in its concentration within the brain is associated with Parkinson's disease.3-hydroxytyramine
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
dopamine
[dō′pə-mēn′]
- A monoamine neurotransmitter that is formed during the synthesis of norepinephrine and is essential to the normal functioning of the central nervous system. A reduction of dopamine in the brain is associated with the development of Parkinson's disease. Chemical formula: C8H11NO2.
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.