Topic: dopamine tone

Parkinson’s disease (PD), characterized by the absence of dopamine in the striatum, is due to the death of the substantia nigra pars compacta dopamine (SNcDA) neurons in the midbrain. This cell loss is attributed to a dysregulation cascade originating from excess cytosolic dopamine. This presents a paradox. Why is the cytosolic dopamine, while available and in excess, not being released into the striatum and instead causing cell death? Here, we apply our recent theory wherein neurons self-initiate action potentials to maintain metabolic homeostasis. We propose that in PD, such metabolically re