Neuronal activity during drug use in head-restrained mice
School Name
South Carolina Governor's School for Science and Mathematics
Grade Level
12th Grade
Presentation Topic
Physiology and Health
Presentation Type
Mentored
Abstract
Substance abuse disorder is a psychiatric disease characterized by habitual drug seeking and relapse. The laboratory of Dr. James Otis researches the behavioral effects of drug use and the brain changes that occur during drug taking and relapse to drug-related cues. They use a mouse model where animals self-administer drugs while head-fixed in behavioral chambers to quantify drug-seeking behavior. Mouse self-administration can model human addiction by three periods corresponding to human drug taking, abstinence, and relapse: self-administration, extinction, and reinstatement. The Otis lab can use this head-fixed setup combined with microscopy to record brain activity and track neuronal activity patterns during each phase of the behavioral task. The Otis lab has shown that mice learn to press an active lever for drug and a tone cue and maintain high rates of lever pressing for drug. However, during extinction, when an active press does not result in cue or drug, the mouse decreases pressing. Remarkably, when an active lever press results in the drug-paired cue, the mouse, although not receiving the drug, will press the levers because the sound is associated with drug use, mirroring relapse in people with substance use disorder. These behavioral results are accompanied by changes in neuronal activity. By understanding how the brain adapts throughout addiction to drive drug-seeking, revolutionary treatments could be available for people suffering from substance use disorder. This next-level science could allow for the opportunity of therapeutic targets for relapse prevention which adds essential information to the field of Neuroscience.
Recommended Citation
Nelson, Olivia, "Neuronal activity during drug use in head-restrained mice" (2023). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 114.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2023/all/114
Location
ECL 340
Start Date
3-25-2023 11:45 AM
Presentation Format
Oral Only
Group Project
No
Neuronal activity during drug use in head-restrained mice
ECL 340
Substance abuse disorder is a psychiatric disease characterized by habitual drug seeking and relapse. The laboratory of Dr. James Otis researches the behavioral effects of drug use and the brain changes that occur during drug taking and relapse to drug-related cues. They use a mouse model where animals self-administer drugs while head-fixed in behavioral chambers to quantify drug-seeking behavior. Mouse self-administration can model human addiction by three periods corresponding to human drug taking, abstinence, and relapse: self-administration, extinction, and reinstatement. The Otis lab can use this head-fixed setup combined with microscopy to record brain activity and track neuronal activity patterns during each phase of the behavioral task. The Otis lab has shown that mice learn to press an active lever for drug and a tone cue and maintain high rates of lever pressing for drug. However, during extinction, when an active press does not result in cue or drug, the mouse decreases pressing. Remarkably, when an active lever press results in the drug-paired cue, the mouse, although not receiving the drug, will press the levers because the sound is associated with drug use, mirroring relapse in people with substance use disorder. These behavioral results are accompanied by changes in neuronal activity. By understanding how the brain adapts throughout addiction to drive drug-seeking, revolutionary treatments could be available for people suffering from substance use disorder. This next-level science could allow for the opportunity of therapeutic targets for relapse prevention which adds essential information to the field of Neuroscience.
