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The current (March-April 1996) issue of American Scientist has a very interesting article on "Reward Deficiency Syndrome" by Kenneth Blum et al. The article mentions 5 physiologically distinct dopamine receptors (D1, D2, D3, D4, and D5) with most of the work on the D2 receptor. They used the restriction enzyme (Taq 1) to produce 4 Taq1A alleles. As I understood the article, the presence of the A1 alleles resulted in far fewer D2 receptors in the brain, with potential behavior problems. Could someone more knowledgable than myself comment on the D2 receptor functions, etc., especially in areas outside the substantia nigra. Could lack of dopamine in these other areas produce some of the effects we are seeing in our parkinson patients? Miriam L. Denham [log in to unmask] On Thu, 15 Feb 1996, Michel Margosis wrote: > Milo: > > The medical profession is limited like any other profession. The human body > and the brain most particularly is regretably and luckily far more > complicated than any piece of electronic or mechanical equipment. When I > worked and my instrument failed to perform, I was told to call in the > instrument repairman to fix it within an hour or two rather than for me to > spend a week trying to take it apart. Yet, my friend the mechanical engineer > took his nose apart to see what made it run...There are too many > imponderables in life...why does cholesterol clog my arteries and not my > neighbors'? I am waiting to see positive results from fetal transplants > and/or recombinant DNA therapy for genetic cerebroside deficiencies...Of > course, we could discuss this ad infinitum...Be well. > Michel >