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Researchers watch dopamine changes in brain of video game players May 21, 1998 LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Brain scans of men playing video games detected changes in the levels of the brain-signaling chemical dopamine, an observation that could improve understanding of the chemical basis of human behavior. With the imaging, Dr. Paul M. Grasby and his colleagues at Hammersmith Hospital and the Imperial College of Medicine, both in London, were able to identify an activity that triggered the release of dopamine. Dopamine is responsible for coordination of movement and may be involved in learning and rewards. Grasby, a psychiatrist, said his research group is interested in using the technique to examine "neurochemistry that might be associated with illnesses like schizophrenia and depression." Eight men used a computer mouse to destroy enemy tanks on a video screen battlefield while Grasby used a PET scan -- a type of imaging -- to monitor dopamine activity. "They have shown for the first time the relationship between human behavior and changes in the neurochemical systems," said Dr. Michael Phelps, the chairman of molecular and medical pharmacology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the developer of the PET scan. "They have taken our ability to see something a step forward, deeper down into the brain to look at the more fundamental molecular level of how we behave," he said. The study appears in today's issue of the journal Nature. Grasby says the dopamine release could have been triggered by monetary rewards because subjects knew they'd be paid for each level of the game they mastered. The dopamine release also could be related to computer mouse skills or to the amount of novelty and excitement. Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. janet paterson aka calendar control supervisor 51/10 - sinemet/selegiline/prozac - [log in to unmask] quotations: http://newww.com/cgi-bin/do_cal?c:newvoice pwp event calendar: http://newww.com/cgi-bin/do_cal?c:pwpc