Alterations in Excitatory and Inhibitory Synaptic Development Within the Mesolimbic Dopamine Pathway in a Mouse Model of Prenatal Drug Exposure.

ABSTRACT: The rise in rates of opioid abuse in recent years in the United States has led to a dramatic increase in the incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS). Despite improved understanding of NAS and its acute symptoms, there remains a paucity of information regarding the long-term effects of prenatal exposure to drugs of abuse on neurological development. The primary goal of this study was to investigate the effects of prenatal drug exposure on synaptic connectivity within brain regions associated with the mesolimbic dopamine pathway, the primary reward pathway associated with drug abuse and addiction, in a mouse model. Our secondary goal was to examine the role of the Ca⁺² channel subunit α2δ-1, known to be involved in key developmental synaptogenic pathways, in mediating thes

SUBMITTER: Boggess T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8710665 | biostudies-literature | 2021

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature