Social setting interacts with hyper dopamine to boost the stimulant effect of ethanol.

Alcohol consumption occurring in a social or solitary setting often yields different behavioural responses in human subjects. For example, social drinking is associated with positive effects while solitary drinking is linked to negative effects. However, the neurobiological mechanism by which the social environment during alcohol intake impacts on behavioural responses remains poorly understood.

Acetylcholine deficit causes dysfunctional inhibitory control in an aging-dependent manner.

Inhibitory control is a key executive function that limits unnecessary thoughts and actions, enabling an organism to appropriately execute goal-driven behaviors. The efficiency of this inhibitory capacity declines with normal aging or in neurodegenerative dementias similar to memory or other cognitive functions. Acetylcholine signaling is crucial for executive function and also diminishes with aging.

Flypub To Study Ethanol Induced Behavioral Disinhibition and Sensitization.

Alcohol use disorder (AUD) remains a serious problem in our society. To develop effective interventions for addiction, it is important to understand the underlying neurobiological mechanisms, for which diverse experimental approaches and model systems are needed. The main ingredient of alcoholic beverages is ethanol, which causes adaptive changes in the central nervous system and behavior upon chronic intake.

Concerted Actions of Octopamine and Dopamine Receptors Drive Olfactory Learning.

Aminergic signaling modulates associative learning and memory. Substantial advance has been made in on the dopamine receptors and circuits mediating olfactory learning; however, our knowledge of other aminergic modulation lags behind. To address this knowledge gap, we investigated the role of octopamine in olfactory conditioning.

Behavioral Sensitization to the Disinhibition Effect of Ethanol Requires the Dopamine/Ecdysone Receptor in .

Male flies under the influence of ethanol display disinhibited courtship, which is augmented with repeated ethanol exposures. We have previously shown that dopamine is important for this type of ethanol-induced behavioral sensitization but the underlying mechanism is unknown. Here we report that DopEcR, an insect G-protein coupled receptor that binds to dopamine and steroid hormone ecdysone, is a major receptor mediating courtship sensitization.

The octopamine receptor Octβ2R regulates ovulation in Drosophila melanogaster.

Oviposition is induced upon mating in most insects. Ovulation is a primary step in oviposition, representing an important target to control insect pests and vectors, but limited information is available on the underlying mechanism. Here we report that the beta adrenergic-like octopamine receptor Octβ2R serves as a key signaling molecule for ovulation and recruits protein kinase A and Ca(2+)/calmodulin-sensitive kinase II as downstream effectors for this activity.