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According to a study by Karla Kaun, Emily Petruccelli and a team from Brown University in the US, published in the journal Neuron, a few glasses of alcohol at night are changing the way our memories are formed at the molecular level.
For this study, researchers decided to study the role of molecules and genes in the coding of memory-related reward systems.
Their point of departure was a relatively simple question: why do people insist on consuming substances that have unpleasant effects on their bodies and minds? Drugs of abuse, whether they are hard or light (opiates, alcohol, etc.) often lead to adverse effects of varying intensity: nausea, vomiting, headache, hangover … Why? do we remember only feelings related to these neurotoxins, some?
By working on fruit flies for which they learned to love alcohol, the researchers studied the role of different genes and proteins involved in addiction and reward systems.
The first step was to identify molecules that change when there is an excessive desire for alcohol or drugs or a feeling of abandonment; an important aspect of the project that could pave the way for new treatments for addicts, which reduce the intensity of pleasurable memories related to substance abuse.
The researchers found that one of the main proteins responsible for the search for alcohol in flies was "Notch". Notch acts as the first domino in signaling pathways that play a role in the development of the embryo and brain in all animals, including humans.
The researchers also discovered that alcohol also affected the dopamine-2 receptor genes involved in these pathways. These genes produce a protein on neurons that recognizes dopamine, a well-known neurotransmitter known to play a role in coding positive memories.
In the reward path that they studied, the researchers found that the molecular signaling was unchanged and that the amount of protein created remained the same. However, there was a subtle change in the version of the protein produced.
Kaun explained their results with an analogy for people: "… A glass of wine is enough to activate the way, but it returns to normal in less than an hour. After three drinks and one hour apart, the trail will not return to normal after 24 hours. We believe that this persistence is probably what alters the expression of genes in memory circuits. " JB
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