Neurons of alcoholism
Neurons responsible for the development of alcohol addiction have been found
Margarita Paimakova, Vesti
A team of scientists from the United States has discovered a group of brain neurons that affects the formation of alcohol dependence. Perhaps the findings will help to develop new methods of therapy against alcoholism and other addictions.
The study published by the Journal of Neuroscience (Wang et al., Alcohol Elicits Functional and Structural Plasticity Selectively in Dopamine D1 Receptor-Expressing Neurons of the Dorsomedial Striatum t) was conducted by specialists from the Texas A&M Health Sciences Center at the Medical College. Scientists said that alcohol consumption changes the structure and activity of neurons in the striatum – the part of the brain responsible for purposeful controlled behavior.
"Alcoholism is a very common disease today," says the lead author of the study, associate professor of Neurology and Experimental Therapy, Dr. Jun Wang. – But at the same time, we still do not fully understand the mechanism of addiction formation" (in the press release Alcoholism: A step towards a treatment - VM).Wang and his colleagues used animal models and determined that alcohol actually changes the physical structure of medium spiny neurons – the main type of cells in the striatum.
These neurons are similar to a plant with many twigs and small thorn-like protrusions. Each of them has one or two types of dopamine receptors D1 or D2. When D2 neurons are activated, they prevent some actions, that is, they force a person to stop and do nothing.
It is well known that dopamine is involved in any addiction, but this study shows that the dopamine receptor D1 plays an important role in alcoholism. As it turned out, the periodic consumption of large doses of alcoholic beverages affects the D1 neurons, which makes them significantly more excitable, that is, they respond to smaller stimuli than usual.
"If these neurons get excited, you start wanting to drink alcohol," Wang explains. – You have a pernicious craving. When neurons with D1 receptors are activated, they force you to open another bottle of tequila. It turns out such a vicious circle: alcohol facilitates the activation of receptors, and activation makes you drink more."
Such changes in the activation of D1 neurons can be explained by physical changes occurring at the cellular level in the brain. The cells begin to branch more and become overgrown with mature mushroom-like processes. In the group of animals that were not exposed to alcohol, such processes in D1 neurons were quite immature. The total number of appendages was the same. This shows that alcohol consumption has important consequences for memory and learning.
When alcoholic animals were given drugs that partially block the D1 receptors, they began to show a decrease in cravings for alcohol. However, the drug, which inhibits dopamine D2 receptors, had no effect.
Scientists hope that with the help of their developments they will be able to create drugs that cure alcohol addiction, and in future studies they plan to discover the influence of other addictions on brain neurons.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru
08.09.2015