Amygdala neural circuits in alcohol intake

项目摘要 酒精使用障碍对我们社会的个人、社会和经济方面造成了严重影响。因此 我们试图更好地了解酒精影响大脑的潜在机制。中央 杏仁核（CeA）是一个大脑区域，在酒精摄入中起着至关重要的作用，然而， 这个区域的神经元是如何影响酒精摄入的还不清楚。这方面的研究 申请建议在一组集中的研究中解决这一差距，旨在扩大我们的 了解酒精相关行为中的CeA回路机制。拟议的研究将用于 体内电生理记录，以评估酒精自我调节过程中CeA的神经相关性。 在大鼠饮酒模型中施用。此外，使用电生理学和光化学， 遗传学，额外的研究将测试这一假设，一个主要的兴奋性输入到CeA，神经元， 和一个主要的输出区域，臂旁核，是酒精的一个更大的CeA回路的关键球员 自我管理。这些候选关键区域将与其他区域进行比较，例如 丘脑室旁核和BNST。这些回路中的每一个在摄入 自然奖赏也将被评估，以了解酒精机制中可能存在的区别。 行动上这些研究代表了理解这种神经生物学的重要步骤。 毁灭性的健康失调

Project Summary Alcohol use disorders take a heavy toll on personal, social, and economic facets of our society. Thus we seek to better understand the underlying brain mechanisms for alcohol's effects. The central nucleus of the amygdala (CeA) is a brain region that plays a vital role in alcohol intake, yet the means by which neurons in this region contribute to alcohol intake are not clear. The studies in this application propose to address this gap in a focused set of studies designed to expand our understanding of CeA circuit mechanisms in alcohol-related behaviors. Studies proposed will use in vivo electrophysiological recording to assess the neural correlates in the CeA during alcohol self- administration in rat models of drinking. Further, using electrophysiology and opto- and chemo- genetics, additional studies will test the hypothesis that a major excitatory input to the CeA, the insula, and a major output region, the parabrachial nucleus, are key players in a larger CeA circuit for alcohol self-administration. These candidate key regions will be compared with other regions, such as the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus and the BNST. The role of each of these circuits in intake of natural reward will also be assessed to understand possible distinctions in mechanisms of alcohol action. These studies represent important steps towards an understanding of the neurobiology of this devastating health disorder.