Effects of Isolation Rearing on Dopamine Release and Reuptake

Wake Forest University Health Sciences, Winston-Salem NC

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Abstract

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Postweanling social isolation rearing produces long term changes in many behaviors, including increased locomotor novelty response, increased anxiety-like behavior, and increased ethanol consumption. In addition, isolates also show changes in dopaminergic activity, including increases in ventral tegmental dopamine neuron burst firing, increased accumbal dopamine, and increased dopamine turnover in the accumbens and amygdala. However, these previous studies are limited in that they do not reveal aspects of presynaptic terminal function. Fast scan cyclic voltammetry is a powerful tool for measuring presynaptic function due to its high temporal and spatial resolution. In the present study, we will investigate uptake rates and autoreceptor sensitivity as well as ethanol responsiveness in social isolation and group housing reared animals using voltammetry. We will be focusing on function within the nucleus accumbens and basolateral amygdala, as these areas believed to be important for ethanol's reinforcing properties.