Project Summary

Carlos Antonio Paladini, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2002) of Oregon Health and Sciences University, is studying the regulation of dopamine cells and the physiological factors that determine the firing rate and pattern of these important cells.  This proposal will attempt to extend his work in the understanding of the role of glutamate in the excitability of dopamine cells by identifying potential ways in which the regulation of dopamine cells varies between individuals.  Psychostimulants such as amphetamine reduce the metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) response, thus increasing burst duration, which is critical in the control of dopamine release, and presumably increasing dopamine levels in target areas.  This experiment will attempt to determine whether differences in propensity to self-administer psychostimulants correlate with differences in the ability of psychostimulants to decrease the amplitude of the mGluR response.  This would be the first demonstrations of a cellular mechanism involved in the vulnerability to self-administer psychostimulants.  The results from this work will have widespread significance in the fields of drug abuse and disease mediated through the dopamine system.

Program Area: MULTIPLE FOCUS AREAS\Schizophrenia/Mood Disorders/Drug Addiction

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