Topic: hyperdopaminergia

Amphetamine is used in the therapy of mental disorders and for recreational purposes. However, repeated exposures lead to amphetamine sensitization (AS), which is associated with hyperdopaminergia, cognitive dysfunctions, and aberrant behavior. Notably, mounting evidence indicates that activation of group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR2 and mGluR3) reverses neuroplasticity associated with AS and prevents both, anxiety and psychosis, in rodent models.We employed a system-oriented approach, murine model of AS, and selective pharmacological tools to explore the specific contribution o

Alpha-synuclein (ASYN) is a presynaptic neuronal protein related genetically and neuropathologically to Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the role of ASYN in the selective degeneration of specific neuronal populations such as the loss of dopamine (DA) neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) remains elusive. Since previous strategies for viral overexpression of ASYN in animals are not cell-type specific, we generated novel adeno-associated viral vectors (AAV) to Cre-dependently express human wild-type ASYN (ASYN-WT) or ASYN with pathogenic A53T or A30P mutations. This strategy allo