Document Type
Thesis
First Faculty Advisor
Kristen Scaplen
Second Faculty Advisor
Steven Weicksel
Keywords
Drosophila; reward circuitry; Alcohol Use Disorder; behavior
Publisher
Bryant University
Rights Management
CC - BY - NC - ND
Abstract
With more than 200 health conditions associated with Alcohol Use Disorder, excessive drinking can take a serious toll on an individual's health, mental health, and relationships. Despite significant disruptions, there are a few treatments for Alcohol Use Disorder that support long-term abstinence. To develop effective long-term treatments for Alcohol Use Disorder, it is essential to obtain an understanding of the underlying complex changes that alcohol has on the brain, however, the complexity of the mammalian nervous system has precluded researchers from achieving this. Drosophila melanogaster is a powerful model organism for investigating how alcohol hijacks neural circuits within the brain due to its complex yet tractable brain. Previous studies in Drosophila identified neuronal circuits important for the acquisition and expression of alcohol reward memory. Alcohol Reward Memory expression includes cholinergic and dopaminergic neurons that innervate a learning and memory structure within the brain called the Mushroom Body. Here, we investigate how the neural activity of requisite cholinergic neurons changes while flies learn to associate odor cues with alcohol intoxication and whether these alcohol reward memory neurons modulate other alcohol-related behaviors. Understanding how alcohol changes memory circuits in Drosophila and how their behaviors are impacted can inform how alcohol disrupts reward circuitry in other species.
Comments
This research is trying to understand how the neural activity of cholinergic neurons changes in Drosophila, in response to alcohol acquisition. Furthermore this study explores the importance of this cholinergic neuron in other alcohol-related behaviors like locomotion and alcohol consumption with the use of genetic tools.