ABOVE: To capture simultaneous and continuous measurements of the neuromodulators dopamine and serotonin, the study authors designed a microelectrode capable of taking 10 measurements per second.
VIRGINIA TECH
Long associated with reward and pleasure, dopamine and serotonin may also be involved in general cognition, shaping how people perceive the world and act on those perceptions, a new study finds.
For the first time, researchers have continuously and simultaneously monitored the two neuromodulators in the human brain. The results, published October 12 in Neuron, offer new opportunities to test hypotheses previously studied mostly in animal models.
“This study isn’t just measuring dopamine and serotonin; it’s building upon the deep foundation looking at neural mechanisms for perceptual decisions in animals and humans” and linking the findings of these studies together, Tim Hanks, a neuroscientist at the University of California, Davis, who was not involved in the study, tells The Scientist. “There’s a growing ...