ETHANOL AND PREFRONTAL CORRELATES OF ATTENTION

描述：（改编自研究者摘要）拟议项目 探讨了乙醇损害持续视觉注意力的假设， 破坏内侧前额叶皮层的突触处理。一系列 实验将系统地描述行为和 乙醇引起的注意力缺陷的神经生理学成分，以及 然后确定mPFC中断的程度是由于 乙醇与基底前脑胆碱能投射的相互作用。 实验将应用多个单一单位记录技术对大鼠 执行一个操作程序， 用于人类。同时评估mPFC神经元活性和 更高的认知过程代表了一种理解认知的新方法 与酒精使用相关的功能障碍。我们已经确定乙醇 损害持续的注意力，mPFC神经活动与 在大鼠中执行持续注意力任务。初步数据显示 乙醇会选择性地改变 持续注意力任务的表现。这些研究将首先建立 低剂量乙醇对注意操作和单个 单位活动，然后系统地研究基底前脑的作用， 胆碱能输入mPFC在这些影响。 随着新的神经科学技术的出现， 活动，更有效的动物试验程序，有新的机会， 研究酒精中毒的大脑机制目前迫切 需要进行研究，将关键脑回路的功能与正在进行的 在认知能力下降期间， 接触乙醇。通过揭示隐藏在 酒精引起的注意力障碍，这项研究可能最终提供 有助于开发新策略、治疗方法和 酒精滥用和酒精中毒的干预措施。

DESCRIPTION: (Adapted from the Investigator's Abstract) The proposed project explores the hypothesis that ethanol impairs sustained visual attention by disrupting synaptic processing in the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC). A series of experiments will systematically characterize the behavioral and neurophysiological components of the ethanol-induced attentional deficit, and then determine the extent to which the disruption of mPFC is due to an interaction of ethanol with cholinergic projections from the basal forebrain. The experiments will apply multiple single unit recording techniques to rats performing an operant procedure that closely models neuropsychological tests used in humans. The simultaneous assessment of mPFC neuronal activity and higher cognitive processes represents a new approach to understanding cognitive dysfunction associated with ethanol use. We have established that ethanol impairs sustained attention and that mPFC neural activity correlates with performance of a sustained attention task in rats. Preliminary data indicate that ethanol produces selective alterations in the neural correlates of performance in the sustained attention task. These studies will first establish the effects of low doses of ethanol on both attentional performance and single unit activity, then systematically investigate the role of basal forebrain cholinergic inputs to mPFC in these effects. With the advent of new neuroscientific techniques for monitoring brain activity, and more valid animal testing procedures, there are new opportunities for studying the brain mechanisms of ethanol intoxication. There is an urgent need for studies that relate the function of critical brain circuits to ongoing behavioral performance during the decline in cognition that follows acute exposure to ethanol. By revealing the precise neural mechanisms that underlie ethanol-induced attentional dysfunction, this research may ultimately provide clues that aid in the development of new strategies, treatments and interventions for alcohol abuse and alcoholism.