Dopamine levels and signaling in thenucleus accumbens, part of theventral striatum and themesolimbic reward pathway, are thought to play a key role in mediating behavioral activation and motivation.[4][19][13][12] Dopamine releasing agents likedextroamphetamine are able to rapidly increasestriatal dopamine levels by 700 to 1,500% of baseline in rodents.[62] These drugs show greater magnitudes of impact on dopamine levels than do dopamine reuptake inhibitors likemethylphenidate.[62][63] In addition, whereas dopamine reuptake inhibitors show a cleardose–effectceiling in their effects on dopamine levels, dopamine releasing agents do not and have been found to maximally increase dopamine levels by more than 5,000%.[62][64] Atypical dopamine reuptake inhibitors likemodafinil can also increase dopamine levels in the striatum and nucleus accumbens in animals, but have further reduced impacts on dopamine levels compared topsychostimulants like amphetamine and methylphenidate.[65]
A limitation of certain dopaminergic medications used to improve motivation, like psychostimulants, is development oftolerance to their effects.[66][67]Rapid acute tolerance to amphetamines is believed to be responsible for the dissociation between their relatively shortdurations of action (~4hours for main desired effects) and their much longerelimination half-lives (~10hours) and durations in the body (~2days).[67][68][69][70][71][72][73] It appears that continually increasing or ascendingconcentration–time curves are beneficial for prolonging effects, which has resulted in administration multiple times per day and development ofdelayed- and extended-release formulations.[67][69][70] Drug holidays and breaks can be helpful in resetting tolerance.[66]
A novel class of antipsychotics, sometimes referred to asthird-generation antipsychotics, act as dopamine D2-like receptorpartial agonists instead of aspure antagonists, and hence have mixed agonistic and antagonistic effects.[147][148] These drugs includearipiprazole,brexpiprazole, andcariprazine.[148] Aripiprazole has been suggested, at low doses, as a possible treatment for disorders of diminished motivation.[53] However, aripiprazole and cariprazine showed anti-motivational effects in animals and failed to reverse the motivational deficits induced by thedopamine depleting agenttetrabenazine.[25][24] Accordingly, aripiprazole reduced activation of themesolimbic motivational pathway in humans similarly to but less robustly thanhaloperidol.[149][150] On the other hand, another study found that aripiprazole reversedstress-induced motivational anhedonia in animals, anantidepressant-like effect.[151][152] Different dopamine receptor partial agonists that are used in the treatment of schizophrenia are known to vary in theirintrinsic activities at the dopamine receptors, so each drug may be expected to have a different profile of effects.[153]
Some atypical DRIs, likeJJC8-091, in contrast to other DRIs, are not effective in producing pro-motivational effects in animals.[154] This has been attributed to binding to an occludedconformation of thedopamine transporter (DAT) that results in a diminished increase in dopamine levels.[154]
^abcdefHailwood JM (27 September 2018).Novel Approaches Towards Pharmacological Enhancement of Motivation (Thesis). University of Cambridge.doi:10.17863/CAM.40216.The ethical considerations of pharmacological enhancement of cognition in the healthy population have been debated elsewhere (Farah et al. 2004; Porsdam Mann & Sahakian 2015). It is likely that putative pro-motivational drugs deserve a similar level of scrutiny.
^Zohny, Hazem (7 July 2015)."The Problem with Artificial Willpower".Scientific American. Retrieved16 October 2024.The ethical threat posed by Adderall and other drugs that improve motivation [...] If it isn't justified – that is, if her options are limited purely due to unjust socio-political forces – then motivation enhancing drugs start to look more like political complacence pills. [...] It's the sort of spectre that permeates dystopian visions of the future, and it's one that is very much raised by the prospect of motivation enhancing drugs.
^Kjærsgaard T (2 January 2015). "Enhancing Motivation by Use of Prescription Stimulants: The Ethics of Motivation Enhancement".AJOB Neuroscience.6 (1):4–10.doi:10.1080/21507740.2014.990543.ISSN2150-7740.
^abcStarkstein SE, Pahissa J (2018)."Disorders of Diminished Motivation". In Silver JM, McAllister TW, Arciniegas DB (eds.).Textbook of Traumatic Brain Injury (3 ed.). American Psychiatric Association Publishing. pp. 381–393.ISBN978-1-61537-112-9. Retrieved17 September 2024.
^abcTreadway MT, Salamone JD (2022). "Vigor, Effort-Related Aspects of Motivation and Anhedonia".Anhedonia: Preclinical, Translational, and Clinical Integration. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences. Vol. 58. pp. 325–353.doi:10.1007/7854_2022_355.ISBN978-3-031-09682-2.PMID35505057.Adenosine A2A receptor antagonists have been studied for their potential antiparkinsonian effects (Ferré 1997; Morelli and Pinna 2002; Correa et al. 2004), and istradefylline (Nourianz) has been approved for use in several countries. Particularly relevant for the present review, drugs that act on adenosine A2A receptors induce substantial effects on instrumental behavior and effort-related choice. [...] Caffeine, theophylline, and several adenosine A2A receptor antagonists (MSX-3, MSX-4, Lu AA47070, istradefylline) can reverse the low-effort bias induced by systemically administered DA D2 antagonists (Farrar et al. 2007; Worden et al. 2009; Mott et al. 2009; Collins et al. 2012; Nunes et al. 2010; Santerre et al. 2012; Randall et al. 2012; Pardo et al. 2020), and MSX-3 and preladenant reverse the effects of TBZ (Nunes et al. 2013; Randall et al. 2014; Yohn et al. 2015a; Salamone et al. 2018). [...] Furthermore, A2A receptor knockout mice are resistant to the effort-related effects of haloperidol (Pardo et al. 2012). [...] Along with adenosine A2A antagonists such as istradefylline and preladenant (Nunes et al. 2013; Randall et al. 2014; Yohn et al. 2015a; Salamone et al. 2018), and D1 agonists (Yohn et al. 2015b), atypical DAT inhibitors offer promise as potential treatments for effort-related motivational symptoms.
^abcdeKrishnamoorthy A, Craufurd D (October 2011). "Treatment of Apathy in Huntington's Disease and Other Movement Disorders".Curr Treat Options Neurol.13 (5):508–519.doi:10.1007/s11940-011-0140-y.PMID21800056.
^abcdeSalamone JD, Pardo M, Yohn SE, López-Cruz L, SanMiguel N, Correa M (2016). "Mesolimbic Dopamine and the Regulation of Motivated Behavior".Behavioral Neuroscience of Motivation. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences. Vol. 27. pp. 231–257.doi:10.1007/7854_2015_383.ISBN978-3-319-26933-7.PMID26323245.
^abJawad MY, Fatima M, Hassan U, Zaheer Z, Ayyan M, Ehsan M, Khan MH, Qadeer A, Gull AR, Asif MT, Shad MU (July 2023). "Can antidepressant use be associated with emotional blunting in a subset of patients with depression? A scoping review of available literature".Human Psychopharmacology.38 (4): e2871.doi:10.1002/hup.2871.PMID37184083.
^abcdBelmaker, Robert Haim; Lichtenberg, Pesach (2023). "Antipsychotic Drugs: Do They Define Schizophrenia or Do They Blunt All Emotions?".Psychopharmacology Reconsidered: A Concise Guide Exploring the Limits of Diagnosis and Treatment. Cham: Springer International Publishing. pp. 63–84.doi:10.1007/978-3-031-40371-2_6.ISBN978-3-031-40370-5.
^abEcevitoglu A, Edelstein GA, Presby RE, Rotolo RA, Yang JH, Quiles T, Okifo K, Conrad RT, Kovach A, Correa M, Salamone JD (August 2023). "Effects of the atypical antipsychotic and D3/D2 dopamine partial agonist cariprazine on effort-based choice behavior: implications for modeling avolition".Psychopharmacology (Berl).240 (8):1747–1757.doi:10.1007/s00213-023-06405-8.PMID37358806.
^Yohn SE, Lopez-Cruz L, Hutson PH, Correa M, Salamone JD (March 2016). "Effects of lisdexamfetamine and s-citalopram, alone and in combination, on effort-related choice behavior in the rat".Psychopharmacology (Berl).233 (6):949–960.doi:10.1007/s00213-015-4176-7.PMID26694811.
^Soutschek A, Gvozdanovic G, Kozak R, Duvvuri S, de Martinis N, Harel B, Gray DL, Fehr E, Jetter A, Tobler PN (April 2020). "Dopaminergic D1 Receptor Stimulation Affects Effort and Risk Preferences".Biol Psychiatry.87 (7):678–685.doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2019.09.002.PMID31668477.
^Yohn SE, Santerre JL, Nunes EJ, Kozak R, Podurgiel SJ, Correa M, Salamone JD (August 2015). "The role of dopamine D1 receptor transmission in effort-related choice behavior: Effects of D1 agonists".Pharmacol Biochem Behav.135:217–226.doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2015.05.003.PMID26022661.
^Knoll J (August 2003). "Enhancer regulation/endogenous and synthetic enhancer compounds: a neurochemical concept of the innate and acquired drives".Neurochemical Research.28 (8):1275–1297.doi:10.1023/a:1024224311289.PMID12834268.
^abcContreras-Mora H, Rowland MA, Yohn SE, Correa M, Salamone JD (March 2018). "Partial reversal of the effort-related motivational effects of tetrabenazine with the MAO-B inhibitor deprenyl (selegiline): Implications for treating motivational dysfunctions".Pharmacol Biochem Behav.166:13–20.doi:10.1016/j.pbb.2018.01.001.PMID29309800.
^abSalamone JD, Koychev I, Correa M, McGuire P (August 2015). "Neurobiological basis of motivational deficits in psychopathology".Eur Neuropsychopharmacol.25 (8):1225–1238.doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2014.08.014.PMID25435083.
^abSami MB, Faruqui R (December 2015). "The effectiveness of dopamine agonists for treatment of neuropsychiatric symptoms post brain injury and stroke".Acta Neuropsychiatr.27 (6):317–326.doi:10.1017/neu.2015.17.PMID25850757.Dopamine agonists have been reported to have positive effects in treating the neuropsychiatric sequalae of brain injury. One case series reported 19 out of 30 patients with severe head injury and aggression to respond to amantadine over the course of a year (15). Other case series have also shown positive response of cognitive function, attention and motivation in persons with head injury in the rehabilitative setting (16–18). Open label trials have shown improved neuropsychiatric outcomes in braininjured patients with bromocriptine and amantadine (19,20). Case studies have also reported improvement with the use of dopaminergic therapy in patients with neuropsychiatric sequalae of stroke. A combination of carbidopa/levodopa and pergolide has been reported to substantially improve the outcome of post-infarct akinetic mutism (21). Ropinirole has been reported to have had a dramatic effect on post-stroke apathy (22). However most of the reported associations to date have been limited by considerable methodological shortcomings. Case studies are anecdotal evidence, whereas larger case series may report improvement but are uncontrolled. This is critical in studies of neurological injury, where a degree of improvement may be expected by neuronal recovery over time. Similarly trials to date which have reported positive results have been open-label and consequently susceptible to placebo effect. Thus a systematic review of rigorous double-blind randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is needed.
^Rothman RB (1994). "A Review of the Effects of Dopaminergic Agents in Humans: Implications for Medication Development". In Erinoff L, Brown RM (eds.).Neurobiological Models for Evaluating Mechanisms Underlying Cocaine Addiction (NIDA Research Monograph 145)(PDF). U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Drug Abuse. pp. 67–87. Retrieved4 August 2024.
^Rothman RB, Glowa JR (1995). "A review of the effects of dopaminergic agents on humans, animals, and drug-seeking behavior, and its implications for medication development. Focus on GBR 12909".Mol Neurobiol.11 (1–3):1–19.doi:10.1007/BF02740680.PMID8561954.
^Singer C (January 2002). "Adverse effects in the treatment of Parkinson's disease".Expert Rev Neurother.2 (1):105–118.doi:10.1586/14737175.2.1.105.PMID19811020.
^abcMoncrieff, Joanna (2007). "What Do Neuroleptics Really Do? A Drug-Centred Account".The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment. Palgrave Macmillan London. pp. 100–117.doi:10.1007/978-0-230-58944-5_7 (inactive 1 November 2024).ISBN978-0-230-57431-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
^abcMoncrieff, Joanna (2013). "The Patient's Dilemma: Other Evidence on the Effects of Antipsychotics".The Bitterest Pills. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK. pp. 113–131.doi:10.1057/9781137277442_7.ISBN978-1-137-27743-5.
^Moncrieff J, Cohen D, Mason JP (August 2009). "The subjective experience of taking antipsychotic medication: a content analysis of Internet data".Acta Psychiatr Scand.120 (2):102–111.doi:10.1111/j.1600-0447.2009.01356.x.PMID19222405.
^Guay DR (January 1999). "Tolcapone, a selective catechol-O-methyltransferase inhibitor for treatment of Parkinson's disease".Pharmacotherapy.19 (1):6–20.doi:10.1592/phco.19.1.6.30516.PMID9917075.It also enhances locomotor hyperactivity induced by amphetamine and nomifensine and stereotypy induced by amphetamine, and stimulates exploratory activity in the open field test in rats and mice.14 Tolcapone potentiates levodopa antagonism of haloperidol-induced catalepsy in MPP+-lesioned mice (murine model of Parkinson's disease) and potentiates and prolongs levodopa-induced circling behavior in rats with 6-hydroxydopamine-induced nigrostriatal pathway lesions (another animal model of Parkinson's disease).23, 24 [...] The effect of tolcapone on animal models of depression was evaluated in two studies. In rats with chronic mild stress-induced anhedonia, tolcapone 10 or 30 mg/kg twice/day by intraperitoneal injection prevented the stress-induced anhedonic state compared with vehicle-treated controls.28 Another rat study using the forced swimming test and learned helplessness paradigm, found no significant antidepressant activity of the agent.29 The relevance of these findings to the management of depression in humans with both parkinsonian and nonparkinsonian disease is unknown.
^Maj J, Rogóz Z, Skuza G, Sowińska H, Superata J (1990). "Behavioural and neurochemical effects of Ro 40-7592, a new COMT inhibitor with a potential therapeutic activity in Parkinson's disease".J Neural Transm Park Dis Dement Sect.2 (2):101–112.doi:10.1007/BF02260898.PMID1977408.
^Parada A, Soares-da-Silva P (October 2000)."POSTER COMMUNICATIONS: 49P. BIA 3-202 does not potentiate locomotor hyperactivity during increased dopaminergic stimulation".British Journal of Pharmacology.131 (Suppl). Wiley:38P –129P.PMC1910551.Tolcapone administered 6 h before amphetamine challenge was found to significantly increase locomotor activity in rats treated with 0.5 and 2.0 mg kg-1 amphetamine. In rats given 4.0 mg kg-1 amphetamine, tolcapone produced a marked decrease in locomotor activity and increased two-fold the duration of the stereotyped behaviour.
^Zimek D, Miklusova M, Mares J (2023)."Overview of the Current Pathophysiology of Fatigue in Multiple Sclerosis, Its Diagnosis and Treatment Options - Review Article".Neuropsychiatr Dis Treat.19:2485–2497.doi:10.2147/NDT.S429862.PMC10674653.PMID38029042.Currently, different pharmacological agents are used for the treatment for fatigue in patients with MS, including amantadine, modafinil and pemoline.99,100 Of these, the most commonly used is amantadine. Its main mechanism of action is not yet fully understood, although its effects on fatigue seem to be related to its dopaminergic effects, supporting the dopamine imbalance theory for MS-related fatigue.101 In general, all trials that compared amantadine with placebo showed a significant effect of amantadine on fatigue. However, the results of these trials need to be interpreted with caution because of the low number of participants included in the trials and the short duration of the interventions.8 The daily dose of amantadine used in all published studies was 200 mg, which is the standard amount administered today. Amantadine is the only oral treatment that is currently recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for the treatment of MS-related fatigue.102
^Yang TT, Wang L, Deng XY, Yu G (September 2017). "Pharmacological treatments for fatigue in patients with multiple sclerosis: A systematic review and meta-analysis".J Neurol Sci.380:256–261.doi:10.1016/j.jns.2017.07.042.PMID28870581.
^Hodgkins P, Shaw M, Coghill D, Hechtman L (September 2012)."Amfetamine and methylphenidate medications for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: complementary treatment options".Eur Child Adolesc Psychiatry.21 (9):477–492.doi:10.1007/s00787-012-0286-5.PMC3432777.PMID22763750.Intraperitoneal administration of dl-threo-MPH 10 mg/kg to spontaneously hypertensive rats elicits a rapid 3–4-fold increase in extracellular concentrations of noradrenaline in the prefrontal cortex and dopamine in the striatum, peaking within 45 min of dosing, and remaining above control levels for at least 3 h [48]. [...] Intraperitoneal administration of d-AMF 1 mg/kg to spontaneously hypertensive rats elicits a 15-fold increase in striatal dopamine concentrations 30 min post-dose that return to control levels within 90 min, and a fourfold increase in noradrenaline concentrations in the prefrontal cortex within 45 min of dosing that remain above control levels for at least 3 h.
^Cheetham SC, Kulkarni RS, Rowley HL, Heal DJ (2007).The SH rat model of ADHD has profoundly different catecholaminergic responses to amphetamine's enantiomers compared with Sprague-Dawleys.Neuroscience 2007, San Diego, CA, Nov 3-7, 2007. Society for Neuroscience. Archived fromthe original on 27 July 2024.Both d- and l-[amphetamine (AMP)] evoked rapid increases in extraneuronal concentrations of [noradrenaline (NA)] and [dopamine (DA)] that reached a maximum 30 or 60 min after administration. However, the [spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs)] were much more responsive to AMP's enantiomers than the [Sprague-Dawleys (SDs)]. Thus, 3 mg/kg d-AMP produced a peak increase in [prefrontal cortex (PFC)] NA of 649 ± 87% (p<0.001) in SHRs compared with 198 ± 39% (p<0.05) in SDs; the corresponding figures for [striatal (STR)] DA were 4898 ± 1912% (p<0.001) versus 1606 ± 391% (p<0.001). At 9 mg/kg, l-AMP maximally increased NA efflux by 1069 ± 105% (p<0.001) in SHRs compared with 157 ± 24% (p<0.01) in SDs; the DA figures were 3294 ± 691% (p<0.001) versus 459 ± 107% (p<0.001).
^Hersey M, Bacon AK, Bailey LG, Coggiano MA, Newman AH, Leggio L, Tanda G (2021)."Psychostimulant Use Disorder, an Unmet Therapeutic Goal: Can Modafinil Narrow the Gap?".Front Neurosci.15: 656475.doi:10.3389/fnins.2021.656475.PMC8187604.PMID34121988.MOD binding to DAT differs from that of other typical, cocaine-like, DAT blockers (Schmitt and Reith, 2011). In contrast to cocaine, MOD prefers to bind to, or stabilize the DAT protein in a more inward-facing occluded conformation (Schmitt and Reith, 2011; Loland et al., 2012) that still inhibits uptake and results in increases in extracellular DA in the NAcc (Ferraro et al., 1996c; Zolkowska et al., 2009), the NAcc shell (NAS) (Loland et al., 2012; Mereu et al., 2020), and the striatum (Rowley et al., 2014). MOD also increases electrically evoked DA in the DS and VS (Bobak et al., 2016) (summarized in Table 2) like abused psychostimulants (Nisell et al., 1994; Pontieri et al., 1996; Munzar et al., 2004; Kohut et al., 2014). However, while acute administration of MOD (Mereu et al., 2017, 2020) or its enantiomers (Loland et al., 2012; Keighron et al., 2019a, b) increases extracellular NAcc DA levels in rodents, these effects, even at very high doses, elicited a limited stimulation of DA in striatal areas compared to the stimulation elicited by abused psychostimulants (Loland et al., 2012; Mereu et al., 2017, 2020). This limited efficacy of MOD to increase DA levels, as compared to abused psychostimulants, also predicts a limited potential for abuse.
^Cruickshank CC, Dyer KR (July 2009). "A review of the clinical pharmacology of methamphetamine".Addiction.104 (7):1085–1099.doi:10.1111/j.1360-0443.2009.02564.x.PMID19426289.Metabolism does not appear to be altered by chronic exposure, thus dose escalation appears to arise from pharmacodynamic rather than pharmacokinetic tolerance [24]. [...] The terminal plasma half-life of methamphetamine of approximately 10 hours is similar across administration routes, but with substantial inter-individual variability. Acute effects persist for up to 8 hours following a single moderate dose of 30 mg [30]. [...] peak plasma methamphetamine concentration occurs after 4 hours [35]. Nevertheless, peak cardiovascular and subjective effects occur rapidly (within 5–15 minutes). The dissociation between peak plasma concentration and clinical effects indicates acute tolerance, which may reflect rapid molecular processes such as redistribution of vesicular monoamines and internalization of monoamine receptors and transporters [6,36]. Acute subjective effects diminish over 4 hours, while cardiovascular effects tend to remain elevated. This is important, as the marked acute tachyphylaxis to subjective effects may drive repeated use within intervals of 4 hours, while cardiovascular risks may increase [11,35].
^abAbbas K, Barnhardt EW, Nash PL, Streng M, Coury DL (April 2024)."A review of amphetamine extended release once-daily options for the management of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder".Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics.24 (4):421–432.doi:10.1080/14737175.2024.2321921.PMID38391788.For several decades, clinical benefits of amphetamines have been limited by the pharmacologic half-life of around 4 hours. Although higher doses can produce higher maximum concentrations, they do not affect the half-life of the dose. Therefore, to achieve longer durations of effect, stimulants had to be dosed at least twice daily. Further, these immediate-release doses were found to have their greatest effect shortly after administration, with a rapid decline in effect after reaching peak blood concentrations. The clinical correlation of this was found in comparing math problems attempted and solved between a mixed amphetamine salts preparation (MAS) 10 mg once at 8 am vs 8 am followed by 12 pm [14]. The study also demonstrated the phenomenon of acute tolerance, where even if blood concentrations were maintained over the course of the day, clinical efficacy in the form of math problems attempted and solved would diminish over the course of the day. These findings eventually led to the development of a once daily preparation (MAS XR) [15], which is a composition of 50% immediate-release beads and 50% delayed release beads intended to mimic this twice-daily dosing with only a single administration.
^Baumeister AA (2021). "Is Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder a Risk Syndrome for Parkinson's Disease?".Harvard Review of Psychiatry.29 (2):142–158.doi:10.1097/HRP.0000000000000283.PMID33560690.It has been suggested that the association between PD and ADHD may be explained, in part, by toxic effects of these drugs on DA neurons.241 [...] An important question is whether amphetamines, as they are used clinically to treat ADHD, are toxic to DA neurons. In most of the animal and human studies cited above, stimulant exposure levels are high relative to clinical doses, and dosing regimens (as stimulants) rarely mimic the manner in which these drugs are used clinically. The study by Ricaurte and colleagues248 is an exception. In that study, baboons orally self-administered a racemic (3:1 d/l) amphetamine mixture twice daily in increasing doses ranging from 2.5 to 20 mg/day for four weeks. Plasma amphetamine concentrations, measured at one-week intervals, were comparable to those observed in children taking amphetamine for ADHD. Two to four weeks after cessation of amphetamine treatment, multiple markers of striatal DA function were decreased, including DA and DAT. In another group of animals (squirrel monkeys), d/l amphetamine blood concentration was titrated to clinically comparable levels for four weeks by administering varying doses of amphetamine by orogastric gavage. These animals also had decreased markers of striatal DA function assessed two weeks after cessation of amphetamine.
^Advokat C (July 2007). "Update on amphetamine neurotoxicity and its relevance to the treatment of ADHD".Journal of Attention Disorders.11 (1):8–16.doi:10.1177/1087054706295605.PMID17606768.Recently, however, new data from Ricaurte et al. (2005) indicate that primates may be much more susceptible than rats to AMPH-induced neurotoxicity. They examined the effect of the drug in adult baboons and squirrel monkeys, as clinically used to treat ADHD. In the first two studies, baboons were trained to orally selfadminister a mixture of AMPH salts (a 3:1 ratio of dextro [S(+)] and levo [R(-)] AMPH, which simulated a common formulation for ADHD treatment). AMPH was administered twice daily for approximately 4 weeks at escalating doses of 2.5 to 20 mg (0.67 to 1.00 mg/kg). During the second study, plasma AMPH concentrations were determined at the end of each week. In the third study, AMPH was administered by orogastric gavage to squirrel monkeys and doses were adjusted (to 0.58-0.68 mg/kg) so that for approximately the last 3 weeks plasma drug concentrations were comparable to those reported in clinical populations of children receiving chronic AMPH treatment—100 to 150 ng/ml (McGough et al., 2003). Measurements in all three investigations were taken 2 to 4 weeks after drug treatment. Results from the first two studies showed significant reductions in striatal dopamine concentration, dopamine transporter density, and vesicular monoamine transporter sites. Plasma AMPH concentration at the end of the 4 week treatment period was 168 ± 25 ng/ml. In squirrel monkeys, brain dopamine concentrations and vesicular transporter sites were also significantly reduced although dopamine transporter decreases were not statistically significant. These results raise obvious concerns about clinical drug treatment of ADHD, although extrapolation to human populations may be premature until possible species differences in mechanism of action, developmental variables, or metabolism are determined.
^Asser A, Taba P (2015)."Psychostimulants and movement disorders".Frontiers in Neurology.6: 75.doi:10.3389/fneur.2015.00075.PMC4403511.PMID25941511.Amphetamine treatment similar to that used for ADHD has been demonstrated to produce brain dopaminergic neurotoxicity in primates, causing the damage of dopaminergic nerve endings in the striatum that may also occur in other disorders with long-term amphetamine treatment (57).
^Courtney KE, Ray LA (2016). "Clinical neuroscience of amphetamine-type stimulants".Clinical neuroscience of amphetamine-type stimulants: From basic science to treatment development. Progress in Brain Research. Vol. 223. pp. 295–310.doi:10.1016/bs.pbr.2015.07.010.ISBN978-0-444-63545-7.PMID26806782.Repeated exposure to moderate to high levels of methamphetamine has been related to neurotoxic effects on the dopaminergic and serotonergic systems, leading to potentially irreversible loss of nerve terminals and/or neuron cell bodies (Cho and Melega, 2002). Preclinical evidence suggests that d-amphetamine, even when administered at commonly prescribed therapeutic doses, also results in toxicity to brain dopaminergic axon terminals (Ricaurte et al., 2005).
^Berman SM, Kuczenski R, McCracken JT, London ED (February 2009)."Potential adverse effects of amphetamine treatment on brain and behavior: a review".Molecular Psychiatry.14 (2):123–142.doi:10.1038/mp.2008.90.PMC2670101.PMID18698321.Though the paradigm used by Ricaurte et al. 53 arguably still incorporates amphetamine exposure at a level above much clinical use,14,55 it raises important unanswered questions. Is there a threshold of amphetamine exposure above which persistent changes in the dopamine system are induced? [...]
^Ricaurte GA, Mechan AO, Yuan J, Hatzidimitriou G, Xie T, Mayne AH, McCann UD (October 2005). "Amphetamine treatment similar to that used in the treatment of adult attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder damages dopaminergic nerve endings in the striatum of adult nonhuman primates".The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics.315 (1):91–98.doi:10.1124/jpet.105.087916.PMID16014752.
^Hart XM, Spangemacher M, Defert J, Uchida H, Gründer G (April 2024). "Update Lessons from PET Imaging Part II: A Systematic Critical Review on Therapeutic Plasma Concentrations of Antidepressants".Ther Drug Monit.46 (2):155–169.doi:10.1097/FTD.0000000000001142.PMID38287888.
^Carroll FI, Blough BE, Mascarella SW, Navarro HA, Lukas RJ, Damaj MI (2014). "Bupropion and bupropion analogs as treatments for CNS disorders".Emerging Targets & Therapeutics in the Treatment of Psychostimulant Abuse. Advances in Pharmacology. Vol. 69. Academic Press. pp. 177–216.doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-420118-7.00005-6.ISBN978-0-12-420118-7.PMID24484978.
^abTurner V, Husain M (2022). "Anhedonia in Neurodegenerative Diseases".Anhedonia: Preclinical, Translational, and Clinical Integration. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences. Vol. 58. pp. 255–277.doi:10.1007/7854_2022_352.ISBN978-3-031-09682-2.PMID35435648.Recently, PD patients have been treated with istradefylline, an adenosine A2A receptor antagonist used for treatment of motor symptoms. The drug was given to 14 PD patients for 12 weeks, measuring anhedonia, apathy and depression using the SHAPS, Apathy Scale and BDI. On istradefylline, SHAPS, Apathy Scale and BDI scores significantly reduced from baseline scores at 4-, 8- and 12-weeks, with mean SHAPS scores at week 12 about 50% reduced from baseline scores, indicating that istradefylline reduces anhedonia (Nagayama et al. 2019). As apathy and depression rates dropped as well as anhedonia, this trial also provided evidence for the overlapping relationship between the three symptoms. [...] Taken together, there is some evidence that dopamine agonists such as pramipexole and piribedil, or the adenosine A2A receptor antagonist istradefylline can improve anhedonia and apathy in PD.
^abcNunes EJ, Randall PA, Podurgiel S, Correa M, Salamone JD (November 2013). "Nucleus accumbens neurotransmission and effort-related choice behavior in food motivation: effects of drugs acting on dopamine, adenosine, and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors".Neurosci Biobehav Rev.37 (9 Pt A):2015–2025.doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.04.002.PMID23583616.
^Pardo M, Lopez-Cruz L, Valverde O, Ledent C, Baqi Y, Müller CE, Salamone JD, Correa M (April 2012). "Adenosine A2A receptor antagonism and genetic deletion attenuate the effects of dopamine D2 antagonism on effort-based decision making in mice".Neuropharmacology.62 (5–6):2068–2077.doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2011.12.033.PMID22261384.
^abRoberts C, Sahakian BJ, Robbins TW (December 2020). "Psychological mechanisms and functions of 5-HT and SSRIs in potential therapeutic change: Lessons from the serotonergic modulation of action selection, learning, affect, and social cognition".Neurosci Biobehav Rev.119:138–167.doi:10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.09.001.PMID32931805.[...] 5-HT2C receptors are linked to some of the adverse motivational effects corresponding with dimensions of approach/avoidance behaviours in both aversive and appetitive paradigms. 5-HT2CR antagonism reduces the inhibitory effects of citalopram and SERT-KO mice on reward-seeking after conditioned reinforcers (Brown & Fletcher, 2016), paralleling other experiments showing that 5-HT2CR antagonism exacerbates impulsivity (Winstanley et al, 2004b; Robinson et al, 2008b). 5-HT2CR antagonists increase motivation alongside extracellular DA in the dorsomedial striatum (Bailey et al, 2018), and others have suggested that 5-HT2CR antagonists may be a valuable adjunctive treatment to SSRIs to attenuate motivational side effects such as apathy, decreased libido, and general emotional blunting (Demireva et al, 2018). 5-HT2C receptors, including its negative interactions with DA, appear to increase the latency of active responses to rewards and constrain motivation, consistent with its inhibitory effects on locomotion also seen in uncertain and potentially aversive contexts. [...] 5-HT2C antagonists could prove to be a useful adjunctive treatment to attenuate unwanted anxiogenic and motivational deficits associated with SSRIs.
^Jensen NH, Cremers TI, Sotty F (September 2010)."Therapeutic potential of 5-HT2C receptor ligands".ScientificWorldJournal.10:1870–1885.doi:10.1100/tsw.2010.180.PMC5763985.PMID20852829.[...] the selective 5-HT2C receptor antagonist SB-242084 was shown to enhance DA levels in the nucleus accumbens, an effect attributed to the disinhibition of DA firing via 5-HT2C receptors expressed on GABAergic interneurons in the VTA[17]. In agreement with this, SB-242084 dose dependently increased the firing rate and bursting activity of DA neurons in the VTA[28]. Behaviorally, SB-242084 was found to potentiate dexamphetamine-induced locomotor hyperactivity in rats[21].
^abNorman TR, Olver JS (April 2019). "Agomelatine for depression: expanding the horizons?".Expert Opin Pharmacother.20 (6):647–656.doi:10.1080/14656566.2019.1574747.PMID30759026.Binding studies show that [agomelatine] has a high affinity for human melatonin MT1- and MT2-receptors (Ki: 0.1nM; 0.12nM respectively) and acts as an agonist at these receptors [7]. It has little affinity (Ki > 10μM) for most other receptors, [...] [Agomelatine] binds to the 5-HT2C receptor (Ki = 631nM) as well as cloned, human 5-HT2B receptors (Ki = 660nM), but has negligible affinity at 5-HT2A receptors [7]. At 5-HT2B and 5-HT2C receptors agomelatine acts as an antagonist. The interaction with 5-HT2C receptors may be more nuanced than simple antagonism since this receptor is subject to RNA editing, which can generate multiple isoforms of the receptor with various properties (e.g., affinity, coupling and constitutive activity) [9]. Blockade of the 5-HT2C receptor is believed to be responsible for the dose dependent increase in the extracellular concentrations of both noradrenaline and dopamine observed in the prefrontal cortex following acute drug administration [7]. By contrast dopamine concentrations in the nucleus accumbens or the striatum were not affected by agomelatine [7]. Furthermore, there was no change in extracellular concentrations of serotonin.
^abThome J, Foley P (August 2015). "Agomelatine: an agent against anhedonia and abulia?".J Neural Transm (Vienna). 122 Suppl 1:S3 –S7.doi:10.1007/s00702-013-1126-6.PMID24311062.
^Harrison F, Aerts L, Brodaty H (November 2016). "Apathy in Dementia: Systematic Review of Recent Evidence on Pharmacological Treatments".Curr Psychiatry Rep.18 (11): 103.doi:10.1007/s11920-016-0737-7.PMID27726067.
^Callegari I, Mattei C, Benassi F, Krueger F, Grafman J, Yaldizli Ö, Sassos D, Massucco D, Scialò C, Nobili F, Serrati C, Amore M, Cocito L, Emberti Gialloreti L, Pardini M (2016). "Agomelatine Improves Apathy in Frontotemporal Dementia".Neurodegener Dis.16 (5–6):352–356.doi:10.1159/000445873.PMID27229348.
^De Berardis D, Valchera A, Fornaro M, Serroni N, Marini S, Moschetta FS, Martinotti G, Di Giannantonio M (April 2013). "Agomelatine reversal of escitalopram-induced apathy: a case report".Psychiatry Clin Neurosci.67 (3):190–191.doi:10.1111/pcn.12032.PMID23581873.
^abZhang R, Chen J (December 2023). "Research progress on the role of orphan receptor GPR139 in neuropsychiatric behaviours".Eur J Pharmacol.960: 176150.doi:10.1016/j.ejphar.2023.176150.PMID38059447.In 2021, Reichard et al., (2021) developed the GPR139 agonist TAK041, also known as NBI-1065846. TAK-041 has good physical and chemical properties, can cross the blood–brain barrier, and shows potential in preclinical studies to treat schizophrenia symptoms. Several clinical trials indicate that TAK-041 is safe and metabolically stable (Kamel et al., 2021; Reichard et al., 2021; Yin et al., 2022). Apathy is a condition characterised by a lack of motivation, emotion, or interest and is a common symptom of many psychiatric and neurological disorders. Munster et al. (2022) provided preclinical evidence supporting GPR139 agonism (using TAK-041) as a molecular mechanism for treating apathy. The research and development of TAK-041 have effectively promoted the process of de-orphaning GPR139 and its clinical application value.
^ab"TAK 041".AdisInsight. 26 September 2023. Retrieved26 September 2024.
^Lu Y, Hatzipantelis CJ, Langmead CJ, Stewart GD (July 2024). "Molecular insights into orphan G protein-coupled receptors relevant to schizophrenia".Br J Pharmacol.181 (14):2095–2113.doi:10.1111/bph.16221.PMID37605621.
^Reichard HA, Schiffer HH, Monenschein H, Atienza JM, Corbett G, Skaggs AW, Collia DR, Ray WJ, Serrats J, Bliesath J, Kaushal N, Lam BP, Amador-Arjona A, Rahbaek L, McConn DJ, Mulligan VJ, Brice N, Gaskin PL, Cilia J, Hitchcock S (August 2021). "Discovery of TAK-041: a Potent and Selective GPR139 Agonist Explored for the Treatment of Negative Symptoms Associated with Schizophrenia".J Med Chem.64 (15):11527–11542.doi:10.1021/acs.jmedchem.1c00820.PMID34260228.
^"Neurocrine Biosciences Provides Development Pipeline Update".Neurocrine Biosciences. 9 November 2023. Retrieved26 September 2024.The investigational NBI-1065846, as part of the collaboration with Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (Takeda), did not meet its primary endpoint in the Phase 2 TERPSIS™ study evaluating its efficacy compared to placebo in patients with anhedonia in major depressive disorder. No further development with NBI-1065846 is planned at this time.
^Rahmati-Dehkordi F, Birang N, Jalalian MN, Tamtaji Z, Dadgostar E, Aschner M, Shafiee Ardestani M, Jafarpour H, Mirzaei H, Nabavizadeh F, Tamtaji OR (September 2024). "Can infliximab serve as a new therapy for neuropsychiatric symptoms?".Naunyn Schmiedebergs Arch Pharmacol.398 (2):1081–1097.doi:10.1007/s00210-024-03397-w.PMID39225829.
^Noback M, Kenton JA, Klein AK, Hughes ZA, Kruegel AC, Schmid Y, Halberstadt AL, Young JW (February 2025). "Low (micro)doses of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-propylamphetamine (DOPR) increase effortful motivation in low-performing mice".Neuropharmacology.268: 110334.doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2025.110334.PMID39900138.
^Noback M, Kenton J, Klein A, Hughes Z, Kruegel A, Young J (December 2022)."ACNP 61st Annual Meeting: Poster Abstracts P541 - P809: P572. 2,5-Dimethoxy-4-Propylamphetamine (DOPR) Increased Effortful Motivation in Mice".Neuropsychopharmacology.47 (Suppl 1): 371–520 (390–390).doi:10.1038/s41386-022-01486-z.PMC9714408.PMID36456695.DOPR caused a dose-dependent increase in HTR (F(5,30)=60.0, p < 0.0001), with doses of 3.2 and 10 mg/kg passing a Bonferroni post hoc correction relative to vehicle (p < 0.002), and peak effect at 3.2 mg/kg. [...] The binding affinity at 5-HT2A of the two compounds was similar, with DOPR having a Ki of 17.56 nM and DOI having a Ki of 14.51 nM. [...] DOPR and DOI also show agonist activity at 5-HT2A (EC50 of 0.12 and 0.19 nM, respectively) and 5-HT2C (EC50 of 0.27 and 0.82 nM, respectively) receptors, with >25-fold lower potency at 5-HT2B receptors and no significant activity at 5-HT1A (both > 1,000 nM EC50). [...] The positive effect of DOPR on effortful motivation points to possible therapeutic applications in psychiatric illness states characterized by reduced effortful motivation as measured by the PRBT. The similarity of effects of DOPR to well-studied drugs such as DOI and amphetamine provides a useful reference point to interpret its pharmacological effects. Importantly, the doses needed to increase breakpoint in the PRBT were as low as 0.0106 mg/kg. While 0.1 mg/kg increased HTR, this effect was not significant, and maximal effect at 3.2 mg/kg, supporting the premise that low doses of DOPR may be therapeutic in anhedonia states without causing unwanted hallucinogenic side effects.
^Snyder SH, Faillace LA, Weingartner H (September 1968). "DOM (STP), a new hallucinogenic drug, and DOET: effects in normal subjects".Am J Psychiatry.125 (3):113–120.doi:10.1176/ajp.125.3.357.PMID4385937.
^Snyder SH, Faillace LA, Weingartner H (July 1969). "A new psychotropic agent. Psychological and physiological effects of 2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethyl amphetamine (DOET) in man".Arch Gen Psychiatry.21 (1):95–101.doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1969.01740190097014.PMID4389442.
^Snyder SH, Weingartner H, Faillace LA (January 1971). "DOET (2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine), a new psychotropic drug. Effects of varying doses in man".Arch Gen Psychiatry.24 (1):50–55.doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1971.01750070052006.PMID4923215.
^Snyder SH, Unger S, Blatchley R, Barfknecht CF (July 1974). "Stereospecific actions of DOET (2,5-dimethoxy-4-ethylamphetamine) in man".Arch Gen Psychiatry.31 (1):103–106.doi:10.1001/archpsyc.1974.01760130079013.PMID4599412.
^Cunningham MJ, Bock HA, Serrano IC, Bechand B, Vidyadhara DJ, Bonniwell EM, Lankri D, Duggan P, Nazarova AL, Cao AB, Calkins MM, Khirsariya P, Hwu C, Katritch V, Chandra SS, McCorvy JD, Sames D (January 2023)."Pharmacological Mechanism of the Non-hallucinogenic 5-HT2A Agonist Ariadne and Analogs".ACS Chemical Neuroscience.14 (1):119–135.doi:10.1021/acschemneuro.2c00597.PMC10147382.PMID36521179.We propose the following rationale for the rapid effects of Ariadne in the mouse [Parkinson's disease (PD)] model, as an initial guiding hypothesis for future studies. The in vitro profile suggests that Ariadne's effect on dopamine neurotransmission is indirect, namely not via direct modulation of DAT or dopamine receptors. It has been demonstrated that 5-HT2A agonists increase dopamine release in nucleus accumbens and other regions of the mesolimbic system.43 It is therefore likely that 5-HT2A agonists also stimulate DA release in more dorsal areas of the striatum that are compromised by the PD pathology.
^Kargbo RB (April 2025). "Innovative Approaches in Psychedelics, AI, and Communication: A Multi-Domain Perspective".ACS Med Chem Lett.16 (4):514–516.doi:10.1021/acsmedchemlett.5c00114.PMID40236531.
^Yohn SE, Errante EE, Rosenbloom-Snow A, Somerville M, Rowland M, Tokarski K, Zafar N, Correa M, Salamone JD (October 2016). "Blockade of uptake for dopamine, but not norepinephrine or 5-HT, increases selection of high effort instrumental activity: Implications for treatment of effort-related motivational symptoms in psychopathology".Neuropharmacology.109:270–280.doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2016.06.018.PMID27329556.
^Camino S, Strejilevich SA, Godoy A, Smith J, Szmulewicz A (July 2023). "Are all antidepressants the same? The consumer has a point".Psychological Medicine.53 (9):4004–4011.doi:10.1017/S0033291722000678.PMID35346413.
^Miklya I (June 2014). "Essential difference between the pharmacological spectrum of (-)-deprenyl and rasagiline".Pharmacol Rep.66 (3):453–458.doi:10.1016/j.pharep.2013.11.003.PMID24905523.
^abTaylor D, Chithiramohan R, Grewal J, Gupta A, Hansen L, Reynolds GP, Pappa S (September 2023). "Dopamine partial agonists: a discrete class of antipsychotics".Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract.27 (3):272–284.doi:10.1080/13651501.2022.2151473.PMID36495086.
^de Bartolomeis A, Barone A, Begni V, Riva MA (February 2022). "Present and future antipsychotic drugs: A systematic review of the putative mechanisms of action for efficacy and a critical appraisal under a translational perspective".Pharmacol Res.176: 106078.doi:10.1016/j.phrs.2022.106078.hdl:2434/909466.PMID35026403.Aripiprazole, brexpiprazole, and cariprazine are representative of a new class of APs that act as "dopamine stabilizers", namely partial agonists at D2R/D3R [16]. Partial agonists may act as functional agonists or antagonists, depending on the surrounding levels of endogenous ligand. According to this view, D2R partial agonists may act as functional antagonists within the mesolimbic system, where a hyperdopaminergic state may contribute to positive symptoms; on the other hand, they act as functional agonists in the mesocortical pathway, where extracellular dopamine levels are low, thus mitigating, or at least not worsening, negative and cognitive symptoms [17], [18]. [...]
^Bolstad I, Andreassen OA, Groote I, Server A, Sjaastad I, Kapur S, Jensen J (December 2015). "Effects of haloperidol and aripiprazole on the human mesolimbic motivational system: A pharmacological fMRI study".Eur Neuropsychopharmacol.25 (12):2252–2261.doi:10.1016/j.euroneuro.2015.09.016.hdl:10852/50193.PMID26476705.Accordingly, the task-related BOLD-fMRI response in the mesolimbic motivational system was diminished in the haloperidol group compared to the placebo group, particularly in the ventral striatum, whereas the aripiprazole group showed task-related activations intermediate of the placebo and haloperidol groups.
^Scheggi S, De Montis MG, Gambarana C (November 2018)."Making Sense of Rodent Models of Anhedonia".Int J Neuropsychopharmacol.21 (11):1049–1065.doi:10.1093/ijnp/pyy083.PMC6209858.PMID30239762.In self-administration protocols, the schedule used to assess the motivation to work for a natural (or a drug) reward is commonly the progressive ratio (PR) schedule (Hodos, 1961) where increasing effort is required to obtain the reward as the ratio requirement progressively increases, and the last ratio completed is the breaking point. The breaking point measures the effort the animal is willing to exert to obtain the reinforcing stimulus and is then considered an index of motivation, or of the perceived reinforcing value of the stimulus. Thus, a decrease in breaking point may be regarded as a core symptom in animal models of anhedonia, although this decrease is not reliably observed in all the models. Reductions in breakpoints for sucrose have been reported in a genetic animal model of depression, the congenital learned helpless rat (Vollmayr et al., 2004), in a chronic unavoidable stress protocol in rats (Marchese et al., 2013; Scheggi et al., 2016), and in rats and mice exposed to chronic social defeat (Bergamini et al., 2016; Spierling et al., 2017). This index of reduced motivation for a natural reward can be restored to control values by treatments endowed with antidepressant and/or promotivational activity, for example, lithium, clozapine, aripiprazole, and lamotrigine (Marchese et al., 2013; Scheggi et al., 2015, 2017b; Scheggi, Pelliccia, De Montis and Gambarana, unpublished data). Conversely, exposure to the CMS model does not usually affect sucrose breaking point.
^Scheggi S, Pelliccia T, Gambarana C, De Montis MG (February 2018). "Aripiprazole relieves motivational anhedonia in rats".J Affect Disord.227:192–197.doi:10.1016/j.jad.2017.10.032.PMID29100151.
^Keks N, Hope J, Schwartz D, McLennan H, Copolov D, Meadows G (May 2020). "Comparative Tolerability of Dopamine D2/3 Receptor Partial Agonists for Schizophrenia".CNS Drugs.34 (5):473–507.doi:10.1007/s40263-020-00718-4.PMID32246399.
^abEcevitoglu A, Meka N, Rotolo RA, Edelstein GA, Srinath S, Beard KR, Carratala-Ros C, Presby RE, Cao J, Okorom A, Newman AH, Correa M, Salamone JD (July 2024). "Potential therapeutics for effort-related motivational dysfunction: assessing novel atypical dopamine transport inhibitors".Neuropsychopharmacology.49 (8):1309–1317.doi:10.1038/s41386-024-01826-1.PMC 11224370.PMID38429498.