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Scientists from the Higher School of Economics, the Higher Normal School (Paris), Indiana University and the Nizhny Novgorod Institute of Applied Physics of the Russian Academy of Sciences have found out exactly how alcohol disrupts the work of dopamine receptors.
The neurotransmitter dopamine is a biologically active chemical that affects the "satisfaction center" in the brain, causing either a feeling of anticipation of pleasure from a particular action, or pleasure itself, if a pleasant event occurs unexpectedly. The "reinforcing" property of dopamine contributes to the repetition of "beneficial" actions. If the pleasure turned out to be less than expected, or an unpleasant event occurred, then the amount of dopamine released decreases significantly, which leads to "disappointment" and unwillingness to repeat the action that led to this.
Biologists used a biophysical model of dopaminergic neurons (those that secrete dopamine) and described a mode of operation called an "error signal."
Dopaminergic neurons secrete different amounts of dopamine, depending on whether a person received what he wanted as a result of his actions, or could not achieve what he wanted. The difference between the amount of dopamine released when everything worked out and the amount released if the result was disappointing, and has been called the "signal of error." This signal should encourage doing “useful” deeds and, conversely, not allow doing “harmful” ones.
Scientists have found that alcohol can alter the way neurons work. Under its influence, dopaminergic neurons transmit alcohol-related stimuli as "useful", regardless of whether they coincide with the expected result or not. Without the influence of alcohol, these neurons would transmit a measure of correspondence between expected and received reinforcement, preventing them from committing "harmful" acts.
Due to the fact that the stimuli under the influence of alcohol cause a large production of dopamine, the range of possible behavioral reactions in the chronic alcoholic narrows and he begins to look for the possibility of drinking alcohol. He is either not aware of the consequences of his actions, or is aware, but this practically does not affect his behavior. In order to correctly assess the consequences of their actions, it is necessary that dopaminergic neurons transmit an error signal, providing negative reinforcement of negative actions, but this does not happen when alcohol affects dopaminergic neurons, disrupting the work of the reward system.
Perhaps if scientists can "make" dopamine work in a balanced way, to correctly respond to stimuli in the environment in the presence of alcohol in the body, showing the difference between what you expect and what you get, then science can help people with alcohol addiction.
The research is described in the journal PLOS.
The neurotransmitter dopamine is a biologically active chemical that affects the "satisfaction center" in the brain, causing either a feeling of anticipation of pleasure from a particular action, or pleasure itself, if a pleasant event occurs unexpectedly. The "reinforcing" property of dopamine contributes to the repetition of "beneficial" actions. If the pleasure turned out to be less than expected, or an unpleasant event occurred, then the amount of dopamine released decreases significantly, which leads to "disappointment" and unwillingness to repeat the action that led to this.
Biologists used a biophysical model of dopaminergic neurons (those that secrete dopamine) and described a mode of operation called an "error signal."
Dopaminergic neurons secrete different amounts of dopamine, depending on whether a person received what he wanted as a result of his actions, or could not achieve what he wanted. The difference between the amount of dopamine released when everything worked out and the amount released if the result was disappointing, and has been called the "signal of error." This signal should encourage doing “useful” deeds and, conversely, not allow doing “harmful” ones.
Scientists have found that alcohol can alter the way neurons work. Under its influence, dopaminergic neurons transmit alcohol-related stimuli as "useful", regardless of whether they coincide with the expected result or not. Without the influence of alcohol, these neurons would transmit a measure of correspondence between expected and received reinforcement, preventing them from committing "harmful" acts.
Due to the fact that the stimuli under the influence of alcohol cause a large production of dopamine, the range of possible behavioral reactions in the chronic alcoholic narrows and he begins to look for the possibility of drinking alcohol. He is either not aware of the consequences of his actions, or is aware, but this practically does not affect his behavior. In order to correctly assess the consequences of their actions, it is necessary that dopaminergic neurons transmit an error signal, providing negative reinforcement of negative actions, but this does not happen when alcohol affects dopaminergic neurons, disrupting the work of the reward system.
Perhaps if scientists can "make" dopamine work in a balanced way, to correctly respond to stimuli in the environment in the presence of alcohol in the body, showing the difference between what you expect and what you get, then science can help people with alcohol addiction.
The research is described in the journal PLOS.
