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Updated: Jan 30, 2026

Dopamine Release at Individual Presynaptic Terminals Visualized with FFNs
Published on: August 31, 2009
5-Fluorouracil impairs attention and dopamine release in rats
David P Jarmolowicz1, Rachel Gehringer2, Shea M Lemley3
1Department of Applied Behavioral Science, University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside, Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045, United States; Cofrin Logan Center for Addiction Research and Treatment, University of Kansas, 1000 Sunnyside, Avenue, Lawrence, KS, 66045, United States.
Abstract:
Chemotherapy related cognitive impairment (CTRC; "chemobrain") is a syndrome that is associated with the impairment of various aspects of cognition, including executive function, processing speed, and multitasking. The role of neurotransmitter release in the expression of cognitive impairments is not well known. In this work we employed a newly developed behavioral paradigm to measure attentional shifting, a fundamental component of executive function, in rats treated with 5-fluorouracil (5-FU), a commonly used cancer chemotherapy agent. We found that one and two weeks of 5-FU treatment significantly impaired attentional shifting compared to baseline, while saline treatment had no effect. Post-mortem analysis of these rats revealed that 5-FU caused a significant overall decrease in dopamine release as well. Collectively, these results demonstrate the feasibility of our attentional shifting paradigm for evaluating the cognitive effects of chemotherapy treatment. Moreover, these results support the need for additional studies to determine if impaired dopamine release plays a role in chemobrain.
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