Urbano Francisco J, Bisagno Verónica, Garcia-Rill Edgar
IFIBYNE-CONICET, ININFA-CONICET, University of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Center for Translational Neuroscience, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA.
Behav Brain Res. 2017 Aug 30;333:276-281. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.07.013. Epub 2017 Jul 17.
The reticular activating system (RAS) is not an amorphous region but distinct nuclei with specific membrane properties that dictate their firing during waking and sleep. The locus coeruleus and raphe nucleus fire during waking and slow wave sleep, with the pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) firing during both waking and REM sleep, the states manifesting arousal-related EEG activity. Two important discoveries in the PPN in the last 10 years are, 1) that some PPN cells are electrically coupled, and 2) every PPN cell manifests high threshold calcium channels that allow them to oscillate at beta/gamma band frequencies. The role of arousal in drug abuse is considered here in terms of the effects of drugs of abuse on these two mechanisms. Drug abuse and the perception of withdrawal/relapse are mediated by neurobiological processes that occur only when we are awake, not when we are asleep. These relationships focus on the potential role of arousal, more specifically of RAS electrical coupling and gamma band activity, in the addictive process as well as the relapse to drug use.
网状激活系统（RAS）并非一个无定形区域，而是由具有特定膜特性的不同核团组成，这些核团决定了它们在清醒和睡眠期间的放电情况。蓝斑和中缝核在清醒和慢波睡眠期间放电，脚桥被盖核（PPN）在清醒和快速眼动睡眠期间均放电，这些状态表现出与觉醒相关的脑电图活动。在过去10年中，PPN有两项重要发现：1）一些PPN细胞存在电耦合；2）每个PPN细胞都表现出高阈值钙通道，使其能够在β/γ频段频率振荡。本文从滥用药物对这两种机制的影响方面探讨觉醒在药物滥用中的作用。药物滥用以及戒断/复发的感知是由仅在我们清醒时而非睡眠时发生的神经生物学过程介导的。这些关系聚焦于觉醒，更具体地说是RAS电耦合和γ频段活动，在成瘾过程以及复吸中的潜在作用。
