Real-Time Accumbal Dopamine Signaling and Ethanol Drinking Behavior

描述（由申请人提供）：尽管有证据表明多巴胺神经传递参与酒精的急性强化和刺激作用，但多巴胺释放在饮酒行为中的作用尚不清楚。拟议的实验将确定伏隔多巴胺信号的初始测量是否与酒精饮酒增加有关，或者更确切地说，是否与多巴胺能的适应性变化有关

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Despite the evidence for the involvement of dopamine neurotransmission in the acute reinforcing and stimulating effects of alcohol, the role of dopamine release in alcohol drinking behavior is poorly understood. Proposed experiments will determine if initial measures of accumbal dopamine signaling are associated with increased ethanol-drinking or rather if adaptive changes in dopaminergic transmission, associated with the acquisition of operant ethanol-self administration, are most predictive of ethanol drinking measures. Moreover, we will employ optogenetic approaches to test the causal role of specific dopamine release patterns in regulating appetitive and consummatory drinking behaviors and to determine how glutamatergic projections from the basolateral amygdala and prefrontal cortex influence accumbal dopamine signaling and operant ethanol self-administration. At the conclusion of this project, we will have identified dopamine release patterns and brain regions, which increase or inhibit alcoho consumption. This functional mapping of the microcircuitry contributing to alcohol consumption will be critical for the developing effective treatment strategy for alcohol abuse.