Voluntary Adolescent Drinking Enhances Excitation by Low Levels of Alcohol in a Subset of Dopaminergic Neurons in the Ventral Tegmental Area

Overview

Journal Neuropharmacology

Specialties Neurology
Pharmacology

Date 2016 Aug 1

PMID 27475082

Citations 16

Authors

Elizabeth M Avegno

Michael C Salling

Anders Borgkvist

Ana Mrejeru

Alexander C Whitebirch

Elyssa B Margolis

David Sulzer

Neil L Harrison

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Enhanced dopamine (DA) neurotransmission from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the ventral striatum is thought to drive drug self-administration and mediate positive reinforcement. We examined neuronal firing rates in slices of mouse midbrain following adolescent binge-like alcohol drinking and find that prior alcohol experience greatly enhanced the sensitivity to excitation by ethanol itself (10-50 mM) in a subset of ventral midbrain DA neurons located in the medial VTA. This enhanced response after drinking was not associated with alterations of firing rate or other measures of intrinsic excitability. In addition, the phenomenon appears to be specific to adolescent drinking, as mice that established a drinking preference only after the onset of adulthood showed no change in alcohol sensitivity. Here we demonstrate not only that drinking during adolescence induces enhanced alcohol sensitivity, but also that this DA neuronal response occurs over a range of alcohol concentrations associated with social drinking in humans.

Citing Articles

Modulation of neuronal excitability by binge alcohol drinking.

Gimenez-Gomez P, Le T, Martin G Front Mol Neurosci. 2023; 16:1098211.

PMID: 36866357 PMC: 9971943. DOI: 10.3389/fnmol.2023.1098211.

Moderate ethanol drinking is sufficient to alter Ventral Tegmental Area dopamine neurons activity via functional and structural remodeling of GABAergic transmission.

Ilari A, Curti L, Petrella M, Cannella N, La Rocca A, Ranieri G Neuropharmacology. 2021; 203:108883.

PMID: 34785165 PMC: 9301096. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108883.

Reciprocal midbrain-extended amygdala circuit activity in preclinical models of alcohol use and misuse.

Avegno E, Gilpin N Neuropharmacology. 2021; 202:108856.

PMID: 34710467 PMC: 8627447. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108856.

KCNK13 potassium channels in the ventral tegmental area of rats are important for excitation of ventral tegmental area neurons by ethanol.

You C, Vandegrift B, Brodie M Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2021; 45(7):1348-1358.

PMID: 33960499 PMC: 8295203. DOI: 10.1111/acer.14630.

Alcohol reduces the activity of somatostatin interneurons in the mouse prefrontal cortex: A neural basis for its disinhibitory effect?.

Li M, Cabrera-Garcia D, Salling M, Au E, Yang G, Harrison N Neuropharmacology. 2021; 188:108501.

PMID: 33636191 PMC: 8820125. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108501.

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