Neurobiology Section, Division of Biological Sciences, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0115.
Neurobiology Section, Division of Biological Sciences, Center for Neural Circuits and Behavior, Kavli Institute for Brain and Mind, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California 92093-0115
J Neurosci. 2020 May 20;40(21):4078-4089. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0005-20.2020.
Neurotransmitter switching is a form of brain plasticity in which an environmental stimulus causes neurons to replace one neurotransmitter with another, often resulting in changes in behavior. This raises the possibility of applying a specific environmental stimulus to induce a switch that can enhance a desirable behavior or ameliorate symptoms of a specific pathology. For example, a stimulus inducing an increase in the number of neurons expressing dopamine could treat Parkinson's disease, or one affecting the number expressing serotonin could alleviate depression. This may already be producing successful treatment outcomes without our knowing that transmitter switching is involved, with improvement of motor function through physical activity and cure of seasonal depression with phototherapy. This review presents prospects for future investigation of neurotransmitter switching, considering opportunities and challenges for future research and describing how the investigation of transmitter switching is likely to evolve with new tools, thus reshaping our understanding of both normal brain function and mental illness.
神经递质转换是一种脑可塑性形式，其中环境刺激导致神经元用另一种神经递质替代另一种神经递质，通常导致行为发生变化。这就提出了一种可能性，即可以应用特定的环境刺激来诱导一种转换，从而增强理想的行为或改善特定病理的症状。例如，增加表达多巴胺的神经元数量的刺激可以治疗帕金森病，或者影响表达血清素的神经元数量的刺激可以缓解抑郁。这可能已经产生了成功的治疗效果，而我们并不知道涉及到递质转换，通过体育活动改善运动功能，通过光疗治愈季节性抑郁。本文综述了未来对神经递质转换的研究前景，考虑了未来研究的机遇和挑战，并描述了随着新工具的出现，递质转换的研究如何可能发生变化，从而重塑我们对正常大脑功能和精神疾病的理解。
