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The neurotransmitters
serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine are produced in several places deep
in the brain. From their production sites they travel throughout the brain,
as shown in simplified form here. Serotonin (red),which helps adjust
body temperature and influences sleep and mood, and norepinephrine (blue),
associated with the fight-or-flight response, go to the limbic system as well
as throughout the cortex and into the cerebellum at the back of the brain. Dopamine
(green) is also found in the limbic system and frontal cortex and in the
basal ganglia, which help control skeletal muscles. It is mainly produced in
an area called the substantia nigra. In Parkinson's disease, these
cells are lost, resulting in a dopamine deficiency.
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