[대학원 생명과학과 세미나 안내]
연사 : 강승우 교수(Mayo Clinic College of Medicine)
연제 : The role of lateral habenula in comorbid psychiatric disorders during alcohol withdrawal
일시 : 2018년 7월 30일 (월) 오후 4시 30분
장소 : 하나과학관 A동 101호
초청교수 : 백자현 교수
Abstract
Alcohol is one of the most widely used drugs and an estimated 4.9% of the world's adult population (240 million people) suffers from alcohol use disorders (AUDs). While alcohol’s euphoric property is believed to be important for the initiation of drinking, increasing evidence suggests that alcohol’s negative affect plays a critical role in excessive drinking and alcohol dependence. For example, although alcohol often temporarily reduces anxiety and depressive disorders, alcohol withdrawal worsens those symptoms, resulting in negative reinforcement to alcohol, which is the main cause of alcohol relapse. Therefore, this signifies an essential need for improved medications to cover binge drinking and those psychiatric symptoms.
The lateral habenula (LHb), a small epithalamic brain region, has received increasing attention recently because of its importance in reward circuit by providing ‘negative value’ signals to monoaminergic centers, controlling mood and emotions. Therefore, LHb disturbances have been implicated in the pathogenesis of psychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety. Recent evidence highlights a critical role for the LHb in AUDs and related psychiatric ailments. Our multidisciplinary work in animals collectively suggests that the LHb function and activity are increased by repeated chronic alcohol exposure and that chemogenetic and pharmacological manipulation of the LHb affects the withdrawal-induced anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors and relapse drinking. Conceivable mechanisms behind these effects such as the changes in the intrinsic neuronal properties and the adaptation in the tripartite synapses, and their potential as targets for therapies will be discussed.