Scientists Explain Paradoxical Effect of Dopamine Replacement Therapy on Cognitive Function

The scientific journal Brain: A Journal of Neurology recently published the results of a revolutionary study out of Montreal that may explain the Catch-22 of dopamine replacement therapies (DRT) used to treat Parkinson’s disease. While DRT improves cognitive function in one area of the brain, it is at the expense of another.

The study’s lead author, Oury Monchi, Ph.D. explains:

“When it comes to [PD], the part of the brain most affected by dopamine depletion is the striatum which is divided into several structures. In PD, the dorsal striatum is more severely affected than the ventral striatum, which remains relatively unaffected, at least during the first phases of the disease. We observed that while dopamine replacement therapy enhances the functions of the dorsal striatum, it is at the expense of the ventral striatum which suffers a dopamine overdose, impairing its function.”

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