depression molecule

dopamine is the reward molecle. i was wondering if there is a kind of depression molecule that tells you "no" and block your motivation. what do you think?

I've heard of lesser quantities of dopamine being associated with poor reward/motivation behavior (among other things), but not so much that there's another neurotransmitter blocking off it's receptor. I wouldn't be surprised if there were, though.

Have you tried googling this? Surely someone must know the answer. May I ask why you're curious to know? It's got me wondering now.

They've found that autistic children with the most problems being social have extremely low vasopressen(sp?) levels.
And abnormal Thyroid hormone levels can cause depression.
So yes I think there are lots and lots of chemicals that can cause either depression or euphoria.

frittella wrote:dopamine is the reward molecle. i was wondering if there is a kind of depression molecule that tells you "no" and block your motivation. what do you think?

I apologize, I misread your question. I don't think there's so much a "switch" controlling motivation but that it depends (as much as it's proven to be anyway) upon dopamine levels in the brain.

Serotonin is another chemical you'll want to look into if you're studying the physiology behind depression. Reading up on how antidepressants work might also be useful to you too.

Another quick question, if I may. You do realize dopamine is neurotransmitter (a chemical/"signal" transferred by neurons in the brain), not a molecule? *mod edit*