The role of brain neurotransmitters in the control of behaviour

这个研究项目关注的是脑细胞如何相互沟通，控制身体的肌肉，从而导致我们从上班、打扫车库到和朋友见面吃饭的所有事情。大脑的细胞被组织成相互连接的集合，通过这些连接，它们相互影响彼此的活动。有时候，一组连接的强度会被另一组连接改变；这就是记忆的生物学基础。我们所看到和做的事情会改变大脑中的连接，这样大脑就会记住它们。细胞间的交流是通过化学方式完成的，其中一种化学交流者就是多巴胺。多巴胺存在于一组通信纤维中，它可以改变其他连接的强度，因此在记忆中起着至关重要的作用。我们通常认为是奖励的环境事件，如吃一顿美餐或在寒冷时找到一个温暖的地方，会激活多巴胺系统，并导致由这些事件激活的一系列连接得到加强，从而在未来这些事件更有吸引力。这项研究关注的是多巴胺是如何产生这种变化的。它似乎涉及一系列分子事件，例如，通过研究老鼠学习在哪里寻找食物，有可能开始识别参与这一级联的分子。这项工作将帮助我们了解包括人类在内的动物是如何学会与环境有效互动的。当多巴胺细胞在大脑中不能正常工作时，就会导致帕金森症和精神分裂症等疾病。通过更好地理解多巴胺在学习中作用的基本机制，将有可能更好地治疗因多巴胺不能正常工作而导致的疾病。

This research project is concerned with how brain cells communicate with one another to control the muscles of the body resulting in all of the things we do from going to work, cleaning the garage and meeting friends for dinner. The cells of the brain are organized into sets that connect with one another and via these connections they affect one another's activity. Sometimes the strengths of one set of connections are changed by another set; this is the biological basis of memory. The things we see and do change the connections in the brain so that the brain remembers them. Cell-to-cell communication is done chemically and one of these chemical communicators is dopamine. Dopamine is in a set of communicating fibers that can change the strength of other sets of connections and therefore plays a critical role in memory. Environmental events that we often view as rewarding such as having a nice meal or finding a warm place when we are chilled activate the dopamine system and cause the sets of connections that are activated by those events to strengthen so that in the future those events are more attractive. This research is concerned with how dopamine makes that change. It seems to involve a cascade of molecular events and by studying rats learning about where to find food, for example, it is possible to begin to identify the molecules involved in this cascade. This work will help us to understand how animals including people learn to interact effectively with their environment. When dopamine cells do not work properly in the brain, diseases such as Parkinson's and schizophrenia can result. By better understanding the basic mechanisms of the role of dopamine in learning it will be possible to better treat disorders that result from dopamine not working properly.