Understanding the Chemistry of the Brain

Dr. Arvid Carlsson was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, along with Dr. Eric Kendel and Dr. Paul Greengard, for his discovery that dopamine was a neurotransmitter in the brain. Dr. Carlsson demonstrated that dopamine was present in the basal ganglia of the brain, and that when the chemical was depleted, or its action blocked, symptoms resembling Parkinson’s disease occurred. By restoring dopamine levels with a precursor, L-dopa, the symptoms disappeared and thus was borne the first treatment for Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Carlsson also figured prominently in the discovery of certain antidepressants and beta-blockers.