In Vivo Neurochemistry and Behavior

[9412703]公正我们对大脑如何控制行为的理解，在很大程度上取决于我们能否准确地描述大脑内细胞如何相互沟通。通过切除脑组织并对其进行化学分析，已经获得了关于这一过程的一些一般信息，但这并没有提供有关行为发作期间实际发生的化学信号动力学的信息。有了这笔资金，贾斯提斯博士将改进测量自然行为时大脑内化学神经递质通量的技术。贾斯蒂斯博士的小组将专注于神经递质多巴胺的动态变化。这项工作将使以一种与生物体行为直接相关的精确方式描述多巴胺系统的化学动力学（在某种程度上，还包括血清素和乙酰胆碱）成为可能。它将极大地激发我们对正常大脑功能、几种药物对大脑的作用以及与神经递质系统异常功能相关的过程的理解。＊＊＊

9412703 Justice Much of our understanding of how the brain controls behavior depends upon our ability to accurately describe how cells within the brain communicate with one another. Some general information on this process has been obtained by removing brain tissue and analyzing it chemically, but this provides no information on the dynamics of chemical signalling that actually takes place during episodes of behavior. With this grant, Dr. Justice will refine techniques for measuring the flux of chemical neurotransmitters within the brain during bouts of natural behavior. Dr. Justice's group will concentrate upon the dynamics of the neurotransmitter dopamine. This work will make it possible to describe the chemical dynamics of the dopamine system (and also, to some extent, serotonin and acetylcholine) in a precise way that is directly correlated with organismic behavior. It should greatly stimulate our understanding of normal brain function, the action of several classes of drugs on the brain, and the processes associated with abnormal function of neurotransmitter systems. ***