title: Hypothesizing Darkness Induced Alcohol Intake Linked to Dopaminergic Regulation of Brain Function.
abstract: Understanding the role of neurotransmission in the prefrontal cortex and mesolimbic brain regions has become the subject of intensive neuroscience research worldwide. In the 1970s, our group provided evidence that rats exposed to darkness significantly augmented their alcohol intake. At that time, we proposed that melatonin was the culprit. At around the same time, our laboratory, amongst a few others, proposed that dopamine-adducts with acetaldehyde to induce alcohol intake both in rodents and in humans. While the work in these areas has declined considerably over the years, more recent scientifically sound studies continue to show the importance of these earlier controversial ideas involving alcohol abuse and alcoholism. A review of the literature has provided impetus to systematically access the newer genetic and molecular neurobiological findings relevant to the physiological and psychological motives for high alcohol consumption in animals and humans alike. Thus, we hypothesize that darkness-induced alcohol intake is linked not only to serotonergic-melatonin mechanisms, but also to dopaminergic regulation of brain mesolimbic pathways involving neuronal expression switching in response to long photoperiods affecting gene expression.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, College of Medicine , Gainesville, Florida, USA ; Department of Addiction Research & Therapy, Malibu Beach Recovery Center, Malibu Beach, California, USA. ; Department of Psychiatry & Human Integrated Services Unit, University of Vermont Center for Clinical & Translational Science, College of Medicine, Burlington, Vermont, USA ; Department of Clinical Neurology, Path Foundation, NY, New York, New York, USA ; Department of Clinical Neurology, Path Foundation, NY, New York, New York, USA ; Department of Personalized Medicine, IGENE, LLC. Austin, Texas, USA ; Dominion Diagnostics, LLC, North Kingstown, Rhode Island, USA.
authors.forename: Kenneth
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Blum
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Neurology, Boston University School of Medicine and Veterans Administration System, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Marlene
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Oscar-Berman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry and Laboratory of Neuroimaging and Molecular Imaging, University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, Buffalo, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Rajendra
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Badgaiyan
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, College of Medicine , Gainesville, Florida, USA ; Department of Clinical Neurology, Path Foundation, NY, New York, New York, USA.
authors.forename: Eric R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Braverman
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry & McKnight Brain Institute, University of Florida, College of Medicine , Gainesville, Florida, USA.
authors.forename: Mark S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Gold
keywords: Photoperiod; alcohol intake; dopamine; nocturnal; reward pathway; serotonin and melatonin