Biology subjects

Lovinger, D. M.

Publications and source records attributed to Lovinger, D. M..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2019

Alcohol Effects on Globus Pallidus Connectivity: Role of Impulsivity and Binge Drinking

Despite the harm caused by binge drinking, the neural mechanisms leading to risky and disinhibited intoxication-related behaviors are not well understood. Evidence suggests that the globus pallidus externus (GPe), a substructure within the basal ganglia, participates in inhibitory control processes, as examined in stop-signaling tasks. In fact, studies in rodents have revealed that alcohol can change GPe activity by decreasing neuronal firing rates, suggesting that the GPe may have a central role in explaining impulsive behaviors and failures of inhibition that occur during binge drinking. In this study, twenty-five healthy volunteers underwent intravenous alcohol infusion to achieve a blood alcohol level of 0.08 g/dl, which is equivalent to a binge drinking episode. A resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan was collected prior to the infusion and at binge-level exposure. Functional connectivity analysis was used to investigate the association between alcohol-induced changes in GPe connectivity, drinking behaviors, and impulsivity traits. We found that individuals with greater number of drinks or heavy drinking days in the recent past had greater alcohol-induced deficits in GPe connectivity, particularly to the striatum. Our data also indicated an association between impulsivity and alcohol-induced deficits in GPe - frontal/precentral connectivity. Moreover, alcohol induced changes in GPe-amygdala circuitry suggested greater vulnerabilities to stress-related drinking in some individuals. Taken together, these findings suggest that alcohol may interact with impulsive personality traits and drinking patterns to drive alterations in GPe circuitry associated with behavioral inhibition, possibly indicating a neural mechanism by which binge drinking could lead to impulsive behaviors.

neuroscience↗

bioRxiv2019

Operant self-stimulation of thalamic terminals in the dorsomedial striatum is constrained by metabotropic glutamate receptor 2

Dorsal striatal manipulations including stimulation of dopamine release and activation of medium spiny neurons (MSNs) are sufficient to drive reinforcement-based learning. Glutamatergic innervation of the dorsal striatum by both the cortex and thalamus is a critical determinant of both MSN activity and local regulation of dopamine release. However, the relationship between glutamatergic inputs to the striatum and behavioral reinforcement is not well understood. We sought to evaluate the reinforcing properties of optogenetic stimulation of thalamostriatal terminals, which are associated with vesicular glutamate transporter 2 (Vglut2) expression, in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS), a region implicated in goal-directed operant behaviors. In mice expressing channelrhodopsin-2 (ChR2) under control of the Vglut2 promoter, brief optical stimulation of the DMS reinforces operant lever-pressing behavior. Mice also acquire operant self-stimulation of thalamic terminals in the DMS when ChR2 expression is virally targeted to the intralaminar thalamus. Because the presynaptic G protein-coupled receptor metabotropic glutamate receptor 2 (mGlu2) robustly inhibits glutamate and dopamine release induced by activation of thalamostriatal afferents, we examined the regulation of thalamostriatal self-stimulation by mGlu2. We find that administration of an mGlu2/3 agonist or an mGlu2-selective positive allosteric modulator reduces self-stimulation. In contrast, blockade of these receptors increases thalamostriatal self-stimulation, suggesting that endogenous activation of these receptors negatively modulates the reinforcing properties of thalamostriatal activity. These findings demonstrate that stimulation of thalamic terminals in the DMS is sufficient to reinforce a self-initiated action, and that thalamostriatal reinforcement is constrained by mGlu2 activation.

neuroscience↗