Love Potion#32
Brain Chemical Seems to Control Desire

If your love is unrequited on Valentine's Day, science may soon have the answer to your prayers.
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, say that the protein DARPP-32 plays a key role in sexual desire. "DARPP-32 is now a target for drugs that you could use to stimulate sexual desire," said Dr. Bert O'Malley, Baylor's chairman of molecular and cellular biology.
Within five to eight years, researchers say, DARPP drugs may provide the emotional thrill that Viagra just can't reach. "There is nothing that stimulates sexual desire. Viagra is great for the physical side, but it doesn't do anything for desire," O'Malley said. Female mice bred to lack the protein, or in whom it does not work, act as if they have no interest in sex, the researchers found.

Regulates Brain's Use of Dopamine
DARPP-32 regulates the brain's use of dopamine, a neurochemical that plays various roles including in sensations of pleasure, researchers from New York's Rockefeller University said in an article in the journal Science on Thursday. DARPP drugs may also help with Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and certain kinds of drug addiction, all of which have abnormal dopamine activity as a component.
For romantics, though, the best way to deliver the new drug may be in chocolate-coated form. "It's a fact chocolate increases dopamine in the brain," Baylor cell biologist Shaila Mani said. Christi Myers of ABC affiliate KTRK in Houston and Reuters contributed to this report.