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沉重的损失。因此， 我们试图更好地了解酒精影响的潜在大脑机制。中环 杏仁核(CEA)是大脑的一个区域，在酒精摄入中起着至关重要的作用，但 目前尚不清楚这一区域的神经元对酒精摄取的贡献。这方面的研究 应用程序建议在一系列重点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。建议的研究将用于 活体电生理记录评估酒精自身过程中CEA内的神经相关 大鼠饮酒模型的给药。此外，利用电生理学和光化学- 遗传学，更多的研究将检验这一假设，即对CEA、脑岛、 而一个主要的输出区，臂旁核，是酒精更大的CEA环路的关键参与者 自治。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取 自然奖赏也将被评估，以了解酒精机制的可能差异。 行动。这些研究代表着向理解这种疾病的神经生物学迈出的重要一步。 毁灭性的健康障碍。

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.