GABA and Dopamine Release in Coho Salmon Brain

德鲁博士将开始研究硬骨鱼大脑的基本神经化学。她将探索神经递质多巴胺和伽马丁酸(GABA)的区域分布。多巴胺和GABA在哺乳动物的动机和运动功能中起着重要作用。哺乳动物前脑中多巴胺的释放被认为是药物滥用强化特性的中介。GABA被认为传递和调制多巴胺能信息。她还将调查控制这些化学信使释放的机制。德鲁博士将利用一项名为体内微透析的新开发的最先进技术来测量清醒自由移动的硬骨鱼的神经递质释放。在体微透析已经成功地用于温血脊椎动物，以解决以前未回答的关于神经递质释放的问题。德鲁博士的实验首次将这项技术应用于冷血脊椎动物神经递质释放的研究。尽管德鲁博士目前的研究主要是为了确定这项技术的可行性，但据设想，在未来，体内微透析将用于研究硬骨鱼在上游产卵过程中迁徙和快速退化过程中神经递质的释放。这样的研究还将大大有助于理解多巴胺和GABA在某些人类表现出的强迫行为的启动和维持中所扮演的角色。

Dr. Drew will begin studying the basic neurochemistry of the brains of teleosts. She will be exploring the regional distribution of the neurotransmitters dopamine and gammaminobutyric acid (GABA). Dopamine and GABA play an important role in motivation and motor function in mammals. Release of dopamine in mammalian forebrain is thought to mediate the reinforcing properties of drug abuse. GABA is thought to relay and modulate dopaminergic messages. She will also be investigating what mechanisms regulate the release of these chemical messengers. Dr. Drew will be utilizing a newly developed, state of the art technique called in vivo microdialysis to measure neurotransmitter release in awake freely moving teleost. In vivo microdialysis has been used successfully in warm blooded vertebrates to address previously unanswered questions regarding neurotransmitter release. Dr. Drew's experiments are the first to employ the technique in the study of neurotransmitter release in cold blooded vertebrates. Although Dr. Drew's current research is aimed primarily at establishing the feasibility of the technique, it is envisioned that in the future in vivo microdialysis will be used to study neurotransmitter release during migration and rapid deterioration of teleosts as they journey upstream to spawn. Such studies would also contribute significantly to the understanding of the role that dopamine and GABA play in the initiation and maintenance of compulsive behavior exhibited in some humans.//