Posted by hok on August 13, 2004, at 14:02:51
In reply to Re: Gene therapy makes monkeys work harder?, posted by jrbecker on August 12, 2004, at 9:52:58
I always thought blocking dopamine receptors would actually be counterintuitive to productivity. And oppositely, stimulation of dopamine receptors would increase focus, alertness, motivation, etc. At that was the general notion I had of dopamine's role.
thoughts?
> here's the link from Reuters
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> http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=5941798
>
>
> Gene Blocker Turns Monkeys Into Workaholics - Study
> Wed Aug 11, 2004 02:14 PM ET
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> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Procrastinating monkeys were turned into workaholics using a gene treatment to block a key brain compound, U.S. researchers reported on Wednesday.
> Blocking cells from receiving dopamine made the monkeys work harder at a task -- and they were better at it, too, the U.S. government researchers found.
>
> Dr. Barry Richmond and colleagues at the National Institute of Mental Health used a new genetic technique to block the D2 gene.
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> "The gene makes a receptor for a key brain messenger chemical, dopamine," Richmond said in a statement. Dopamine is a message carrying chemical associated with rewards, movement and a variety of other important functions.
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> "The gene knockdown triggered a remarkable transformation in the simian work ethic. Like many of us, monkeys normally slack off initially in working toward a distant goal," he added.
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> For their study, Richmond and colleague used seven rhesus monkeys. They had to push a lever in response to visual cues on a projection screen, and got a drop of water as a reward.
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> "They work more efficiently -- make fewer errors -- as they get closer to being rewarded. But without the dopamine receptor, they consistently stayed on-task and made few errors, because they could no longer learn to use visual cues to predict how their work was going to get them a reward."
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> Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Richmond and colleagues said they were trying to figure out how D2 is involved in a type of learning.
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> Humans and monkeys both use this learning, which involves looking at how much work there is, visually, and deciding how long it will take to complete it.
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> Monkeys and humans both tend to wait until the last possible minute to finish up the work, and become very adept at estimating how long they have.
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> Molecular geneticist Edward Ginns created a DNA antisense agent that tricked brain cells into turning off their D2 receptors -- which are molecular doorways used by dopamine to get into cells.
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> Antisense involves making a kind of mirror image molecule that looks like a strand of DNA and works to block a gene's action.
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> Although some employers might take a distinct interest in the work, the NIMH team said they are hoping to understand mental illness.
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> "In this case, it's worth noting that the ability to associate work with reward is disturbed in mental disorders, including schizophrenia, mood disorders and obsessive-compulsive disorder, so our finding of the pivotal role played by this gene and circuit may be of clinical interest," Richmond said.
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> "For example, people who are depressed often feel nothing is worth the work. People with obsessive-compulsive disorder work incessantly; even when they get rewarded they feel they must repeat the task. In mania, people will work feverishly for rewards that aren't worth the trouble to most of us."
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poster:hok
thread:376750
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040811/msgs/377241.html