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Full-Text Articles in Physiology
Glutamate And Gaba Receptor-Mediated Plasticity In The Mesolimbic Dopamine System By Alcohol, Ashley Cerise Nelson
Glutamate And Gaba Receptor-Mediated Plasticity In The Mesolimbic Dopamine System By Alcohol, Ashley Cerise Nelson
Theses and Dissertations
Alcoholism is a devastating chronic relapsing disorder with significant costs to individuals and society. The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system plays an important role in regulating reward and addiction. GABA neurons located in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) regulate VTA DA neuron activity, and are a relevant target for alcohol in the brain. VTA GABA neurons exhibit marked hyperexcitability during withdrawal from ethanol. Past research has demonstrated that the motivational effects of opiates cause a change in VTA GABA(A) receptors in opiate-dependent animals, which switch from a GABA-induced hyperpolarization of GABA neurons to a GABA-induced depolarization. The focus of this study …
Alcohol Modulation Of Dopamine Release, Nathan Dan Schilaty
Alcohol Modulation Of Dopamine Release, Nathan Dan Schilaty
Theses and Dissertations
The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system projects from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to structures associated with the limbic system, primarily the nucleus accumbens (NAc). This system has been implicated in the rewarding effects of drugs of abuse. Many drugs of abuse act in the VTA, the NAc, or both. Dopamine neurons in the VTA that project to the NAc, and the GABA neurons that inhibit DA neurons locally in the VTA or project to the NAc, play an important role in mediating addiction to various drugs of abuse, in particular alcohol. There is a growing body of evidence of co-dependence …
Rapid Adaptation Of Dopamine D2 Receptor Responses In The Brain And Blood Following Acute Ethanol, Ryan J. Folsom
Rapid Adaptation Of Dopamine D2 Receptor Responses In The Brain And Blood Following Acute Ethanol, Ryan J. Folsom
Theses and Dissertations
Dopamine (DA) D2 receptor expression parallels DA levels in the brain and these autoreceptors have been shown to be modulated by long-term ethanol exposure. We have previously demonstrated that ventral tegmental area (VTA) GABA neurons also express D2 autoreceptors (D2R), and that DA and D2R agonists markedly enhance the excitability of VTA GABA neurons, opposite to their well-known auto-receptor inhibition of DA neurons. Most importantly, D2R antagonists block ethanol inhibition of VTA GABA neurons and D2R expression in VTA GABA neurons down-regulates with chronic ethanol, as others have shown for whole VTA D2R expression. The aim of this study was …
Synaptic Plasticity In Gabaergic Inhibition Of Vta Neurons, Jennifer Kei Mabey
Synaptic Plasticity In Gabaergic Inhibition Of Vta Neurons, Jennifer Kei Mabey
Theses and Dissertations
Past research has demonstrated that the motivational effects of opiates causes a change in ventral tegmental area (VTA) γ-amino butyric acid (GABA) subtype A receptor [GABA(A)R] complexes in opiate-dependent animals, which switch from a GABA-induced hyperpolarization of VTA GABA neurons to a GABA-induced depolarization. Previously shown in naïve animals, superfusion of ethanol (IC50 = 30 mM) and the GABA(A)R agonist muscimol (IC50 = 100 nM) decreased VTA GABA neuron firing rate in a dose-dependent manner. The aim of this study was to evaluate VTA GABA neuron excitability, GABA synaptic transmission to VTA GABA neurons, and a potential switch in GABA(A)R …
Role Of Α6 Nachrs In Ethanol Modulation Of Vta Neurons, Samuel Injae Shin
Role Of Α6 Nachrs In Ethanol Modulation Of Vta Neurons, Samuel Injae Shin
Theses and Dissertations
The prevailing view is that enhancement of dopamine (DA) transmission in the mesolimbic system leads to the rewarding properties of alcohol and nicotine (NIC). The mesolimbic DA system consists of DA neurons in the midbrain ventral tegmental area (VTA) that innervate the nucleus accumbens (NAc). DA neurotransmission is regulated by inhibitory VTA GABA neurons, whose excitability is a net effect of glutamate (GLU) and GABA neurotransmission that are modulated by NIC cholinergic receptors (nAChRs) on afferent terminals. We have previously demonstrated that VTA GABA neurons are excited by low-dose ethanol but are inhibited by moderate to high-dose ethanol, and they …