Integrating neural, neurochemical and molecular mechanisms of impulse control

冲动是人类的一种有利和有害的特征，它使我们能够抓住一个宝贵的机会，或者做出一个灾难性的决定，让我们终生后悔。 高水平的冲动是精神障碍如双相情感障碍和注意力缺陷多动障碍（AD/HD）的关键症状。 提高我们对冲动性的生物学基础的理解，可以为这些疾病的本质提供有价值的见解。 最近的证据表明，神经递质去甲肾上腺素可能是重要的调节冲动，和新的药物，调节这一系统的活动可能提供替代兴奋剂药物治疗AD/HD。 去甲肾上腺素能活动的增加也被证明会触发双相情感障碍患者的躁狂。 我们最近发现，能增加大脑中去甲肾上腺素水平的育亨宾也能增加大鼠的冲动反应。 我们打算确定哪些去甲肾上腺素能受体在哪些脑区负责影响这种冲动行为的变化。 我们希望利用这些知识，以及已知的其他药理学药物对不同神经递质系统的作用，以了解改变冲动控制的药物如何聚集在类似的细胞内信号通路上。 这些信息可以产生冲动的“分子足迹”，将行为与分子生物学联系起来，这可能及时为冲动控制障碍的治疗开辟新的途径。

Impulsivity is both a beneficial and detrimental human characteristic, allowing us to seize a valuable opportunity or to make a disastrous decision we live to regret. A high level of impulsivity is a key symptom in psychiatric disorders such as bipolar disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (AD/HD). Improving our understanding of the biological basis of impulsivity could provide valuable insight into the nature of these illnesses. Recent evidence suggests that the neurotransmitter noradrenaline may be important in the regulation of impulsivity, and novel drugs which modulate the activity of this system may offer alternatives to stimulant medication for AD/HD. Increases in noradrenergic activity have also been shown to trigger mania in bipolar patients. We have recently found that the drug yohimbine, which increases noradrenaline levels in the brain, also increases impulsive responding in rats. We intend to determine which noradrenergic receptors in which brain regions are responsible for effecting this change in impulsive behaviour. We wish to use this knowledge, together with what is known regarding the effects of other pharmacological agents active at different neurotransmitter systems, in order to understand how drugs which alter impulse control may converge on similar intracellular signaling pathways. Such information could generate a "molecular footprint" for impulsivity, linking behaviour to molecular biology, which could in time open up new avenues for therapeutic treatment for impulse control disorders.