Anatomy and Cell Biology 4451F/G Lecture Notes - Lecture 15: Aromatic L-Amino Acid Decarboxylase, Sexual Dysfunction, Catabolism
Document Summary
Is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder, after alzheimer disease. Loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra. Basal ganglia: striatum entry for the basal ganglia. Has group of other brain areas that work together. They modulate lots of brain functions like cognition in goal directed behavior, etc. Striatum receives information from cerebellar cortex, thalamus, processes info and sends info to other regions for more processing then send it back to cortex. For these functions, brain needs perfect balance of dopamine and acetylcholine. Death of dopamine neurons results in a lot less dopamine and more acetylcholine which leads to deficits shown before: globus pallidum, substantia nigra, subthalamic nucleus. Biochemistry of dopamine (da): synthesis, storage, and release: precursor = tyrosine, enzymes= tyrosine hydroxylase (th), aromatic amino acid decarboxylase (aadc) Tyrosine hydroxylase turns tyrosine into dopa and dopamine decarboxylase will turn dopa into dopamine. Dopamine is then internalized in synaptic vesicles and are transported in the synapse by vesicle monamine transporter.