Electrophysiological Studies on Acetylcholine-Dopamine Interaction and Effect of Dopamine on Learning

摘要

This paper proposes a non-invasive approach for improving learning ability in humans by the administration of glucose which leads to an increase in Dopamine concentration in the synaptic cleft, thereby bringing out a different aspect of Dopamine. The mathematical models explaining the dynamics of interaction between Acetylcholine, Dopamine and the corresponding neural response have been developed. The coupled dynamics between Acetylcholine-Dopamine is developed with a motivation to concentrate on the beautiful interplay between Acetylcholine-Dopamine since it is known that in a healthy brain Acetylcholine and Dopamine exist in balance. The neural response, depicted by spikes, represents learning which is the rate of change of neuronal information in the brain. The fourth-order Runge-Kutta-Fehlberg method has been incorporated to compute and solve the differential equations representing the models by Python to obtain the responses. Results show that, firstly, in the striatum, Acetylcholine concentration initially increases depicting the depolarizing phase which is succeeded by a pause phase. The pause phase harmonizes and conforms with the dramatic rise of Dopamine concentration, thereby facilitating the two neurotransmitters, Acetylcholine and Dopamine to work in collaboration. Secondly, when the synapse is overpopulated with Dopamine, there is a significant change in neural response, i.e. a peak is observed, bringing forward the fact that the learning performance is improved. Therefore, this alternative means of increasing Dopamine concentration by introducing glucose in the form of sweets would have enormous merits and is expected to contribute to necessary prognostic, therapeutic measures for mental ailment. It is particularly useful for people suffering from Alzheimer's disease, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, schizophrenia or any other related brain diseases where control of brain activities can be improved from Dopamine release.