GABA-A receptors in accumbens neural circuits underlying drug abuse: novel targets for treatment?

吸毒成瘾是一个重大的社会和健康问题，其原因既有社会原因，也有生物原因。该项目是一项工作方案的第一阶段，其目的是：1)在非成瘾志愿者中制定研究成瘾形式及其治疗的方法(实验医学)；2)了解成瘾行为背后的特定生物过程；3)确定药物或行为干预的潜在目标，以打击各种成瘾行为。我们的一些目标将在本提案的有效期内实现，而其他目标将在此处概述的工作的扩展中实现，并在MRC成瘾研究集群？GABA？的保护伞下的平行提案中实现。在目前的提案中，我们将研究携带一种特殊成瘾基因风险的人，以发现他们的行为是如何改变的，从而可能增加成瘾的可能性。与此同时，我们将研究参与这一作用的大脑机制和相关基因，希望找到克服遗传易感性的方法，要么通过药物治疗，要么通过改变他们的危险行为。

Drug addiction is a major social and health problem with causes that are both social and biological. The project represents the first stage of a programme of work whose aim is i) to develop methods in non-addicted volunteers for studying forms of addiction and its treatment (experimental medicine), ii) to understand particular biological processes that underlie addictive behaviour, and iii) to identify potential targets for pharmacological or behavioural intervention to combat forms of addictive behaviour. Some of our aims will be delivered within the lifetime of this proposal, while others will be realised in extensions of the work outlined here, and in parallel proposals under the umbrella of the MRC Addiction Research Cluster ?GABA?. In the present proposal we will study people who carry one particular genetic risk for addiction to discover how their behaviour is altered in ways that might increase the likelihood of developing addictions. At the same time, we will study the brain mechanisms involved in the action of this, and related genes, with the hope of finding ways in which the genetic predisposition can be overcome, either with drug-treatment or by changing their risky behaviour.