Mechanisms of synaptic dopamine signaling in the control of behavior

神经调节剂多巴胺对许多大脑功能都很重要：多巴胺神经元的丧失会导致 运动障碍，如帕金森病;多巴胺信号是滥用药物的目标， 是奖赏和成瘾的神经生物学的组成部分;多巴胺信号传导是 治疗多种神经精神疾病。尽管它在大脑中很重要， 关于体内调节突触多巴胺释放的机制。尽管多巴胺对 单个细胞已经被广泛研究，多巴胺信号是如何处理的，以改变动力学 突触后神经元执行行为变化的机制还不清楚。显微镜下的蛔虫 C. elegans提供了研究多巴胺信号的这些方面的机会，使用强大的工具， 分子遗传学和体内电路分析。利用行为遗传学和新开发的方法 通过分析行为动物的神经回路，我们将（1）确定调节多巴胺的机制 响应于食欲刺激和突触后释放，以及（2）确定转换的电路机制 多巴胺信号事件转化为持久的行为改变。由于古老而保守的功能， 动物神经系统中的多巴胺信号，我们建议我们的研究也将取得进展 了解人类大脑多巴胺系统的突触前和突触后机制，并加速 发现新的方法来理解和治疗与多巴胺能神经元功能障碍有关的疾病 系统.

The neuromodulator dopamine is important for many brain functions: loss of dopamine neurons causes movement disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease; dopamine signaling is targeted by drugs of abuse and integral to the neurobiology of reward and addiction; and dopamine signaling is a therapeutic target for the treatment of many neuropsychiatric disorders. Despite its importance in the brain, relatively little is known about mechanisms that regulate synaptic dopamine release in vivo. And although the effects of dopamine on individual cells have been extensively studied, how dopamine signals are processed to change the dynamics of post synaptic neurons to execute changes of behavior is not well understood. The microscopic roundworm C. elegans offers the opportunity to study these aspects of dopamine signaling using powerful tools of molecular genetics and in vivo circuit analysis. Using behavioral genetics and newly developed methods for analysis of neural circuits in behaving animals we will (1) determine mechanisms that regulate dopamine release in response to appetitive stimuli and postsynaptic and (2) determine circuit mechanisms that transform dopamine signaling events into lasting changes in behavior. Because of the ancient and conserved functions of dopamine signaling in the animal nervous system, we propose that our studies will also advance understanding of pre- and postsynaptic mechanisms in dopamine systems of the human brain and accelerate discovery of new approaches to understanding and treating diseases linked to dysfunction of dopaminergic systems.