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Cutting off dopamine reduces procrastination, study finds
Updated: 2:53 p.m. ET Aug. 11, 2004WASHINGTON - 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.

'A remarkable transformation'
"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.

"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.

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.

Increased efficiency, fewer errors
"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."

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.

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.

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.

Agent blocks gene's action
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.

Antisense involves making a kind of mirror image molecule that looks
like a strand of DNA and works to block a gene's action.

Although some employers might take a distinct interest in the work,
the NIMH team said they are hoping to understand mental illness.

"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.

"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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