When alcohol becomes a habit of drinking too much, it becomes impossible to control the amount of drinking by oneself, but a research group led by Assistant Professor Toshiharu Ichinose of the Graduate School of Life Sciences, Tohoku University found a mechanism in the brain that increases the amount of drinking using Drosophila as a model. rice field.
According to Tohoku University, Drosophila feed on fruits, but among insects, they prefer alcohol as an exception, and their intake may increase day by day.When Assistant Professor Ichinose and his colleagues compared the brains of Drosophila who drank alcohol freely for several days with those of Drosophila who were not given any alcohol, the Drosophila that drank alcohol had D1 type dopamine that conveys pleasure in the brain. It was revealed that the number of receptors was increased.
It was also found that artificially increasing the number of D1 type dopamine receptors resulted in abnormal alcohol intake compared to normal Drosophila.Inhibition of dopamine release and disruption of the D1 type dopamine receptor gene were effective in preventing increased alcohol intake.
D1 dopamine receptors are known to play important roles in higher brain functions such as food odor memory, but overactivation has been shown to pose a risk of increased drinking.
Paper information:[Scientific Reports] Voluntary intake of psychoactive substances is regulated by the dopamine receptor Dop1R1 in Drosophila
