The dopamine transporter is like a vacuum cleaner. Its job is to limit the amount of time dopamine spends stimulating the cells around it. When a dopamine-producing cell fires, it releases its store of dopamine, which then binds to receptors on other brain cells. Then, to bring the interaction to an end, the dopamine transporter sucks the dopamine back into the cell where it came from so the process can start all over again. The transporter is sometimes called a reuptake pump because it pumps the dopamine back into the cell.
