The goal of my research is to understand the physiological changes that can occur in the central nervous system in response to ethanol exposure. Acute ethanol exposure can produce changes in neuronal functioning, and addiction to ethanol may develop as adaptive changes occur in the nervous system in the chronic presence of ethanol. The proposed project will examine alterations of the intracellular calcium signaling of the magnocellular neurons of the rat supraoptic nucleus and the corresponding nerve terminals in the neurohypophysis of the posterior pituitary. The selection of this neuronal system is ideal since the calcium dependent release of hormones from these neurons is known to be inhibited by ethanol and regional differences between the cell bodies and the terminals can be easily explored. Imaging techniques will be used to study calcium signaling in freshly dissociated neuron preparations, and a comparison will be made between the effect of acute ethanol exposure on neurons from naive animals and those fed a chronic ethanol diet. The long range goal is to utilize this knowledge for the development of better treatments for ethanol addiction.
