In Vivo Neurochemistry and Behavior

小行星9412703 我们对大脑如何控制行为的理解很大程度上取决于我们准确描述大脑中细胞如何相互交流的能力。 通过移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，但这并没有提供关于行为发作期间实际发生的化学信号动态的信息。 有了这笔资金，贾斯蒂斯博士将改进技术，用于测量自然行为发生时大脑内化学神经递质的流量。 贾斯蒂斯博士的小组将集中研究神经递质多巴胺的动力学。 这项工作将使我们有可能以一种与器官行为直接相关的精确方式来描述多巴胺系统（以及在某种程度上，血清素和乙酰胆碱）的化学动力学。 它将极大地激发我们对正常大脑功能的理解，几类药物对大脑的作用，以及与神经递质系统异常功能相关的过程。 ***

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. ***