文章基本信息

标题：Hypothesizing Darkness Induced Alcohol Intake Linked to Dopaminergic Regulation of Brain Function
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作者：Kenneth Blum ; Marlene Oscar-Berman ; Rajendra D. Badgaiyan 等
期刊名称：Psychology
印刷版ISSN：2152-7180
电子版ISSN：2152-7199
出版年度：2014
卷号：05
期号：04
页码：282-288
DOI：10.4236/psych.2014.54038
语种：English
出版社：Scientific Research Publishing
摘要：Understanding the role of neurotransmission in the prefrontal cortex and mesolimbic brain regions has become the subject of intensive neuroscience research worldwide. In the 1970s, our group provided evidences that rats exposed to darkness significantly augmented their alcohol intake. At that time, we proposed that melatonin was the culprit. At around the same time, our laboratory, amongst a few others, proposed that dopamine-adducts with acetaldehyde to induce alcohol intake both in rodents and in humans. While the work in these areas has declined considerably over the years, more recent scientifically sound studies continue to show the importance of these earlier controversial ideas involving alcohol abuse and alcoholism. A review of the literature has provided impetus to systematically access the newer genetic and molecular neurobiological findings relevant to the physiological and psychological motives for high alcohol consumption in animals and humans alike. Thus, we hypothesize that darkness-induced alcohol intake is linked not only to serotonergic-melatonin mechanisms, but also to dopaminergic regulation of brain mesolimbic pathways involving neuronal expression switching in response to long photoperiods affecting gene expression.
关键词：Photoperiod; Alcohol Intake; Dopamine; Reward Pathway; Serotonin and Melatonin; Nocturnal