Return to search

Neurobehavioral Impact of Disease-Associated Variation in the Dopamine Transporter

Our lab has created a construct valid mouse model based on the dopamine transporter (DAT) Val559 coding variant to elucidate neurobiological mechanisms supporting ADHD and other dopamine (DA)-linked comorbid disorders. Previously we demonstrated that the DAT Val559 mice have altered behavioral response to amphetamine, postulating that it was through a constitutively active D2-DAT interaction that resulted in reduced vesicular release. We have now further explored this altered drug response by examining downstream signaling proteins that are known to play a role in amphetamine induced locomotor behavior. Additionally, we sought to extend our analysis to understand the effects of life long expression of this variant on behavior associated with clinically-relevant phenotypes. We utilized the 5-choice serial reaction time task to probe for evidence of alterations in cognitive, attention, and impulsivity domains. We observed a schedule-dependent impulsivity in the DAT Val559 mice relative to WT controls, and demonstrated that the DAT Val559 mice specifically express a waiting impulsivity and not a deficit in motor inhibition as assessed by the Go/NoGo paradigm. Additionally, we determined that the waiting impulsivity was driven by an enhanced motivational state, rather than an alteration in the ability of the DAT Val559 mice to time intervals. Finally, DAT Val559 mice were demonstrated to be more susceptible to the formation of a dysregulated perseverative checking behavior under a devaluated state across goal-directed and habit contexts. Ultimately the DAT Val599 mouse represents a salient opportunity to understand perturbed behaviors seen in neuropsychiatric conditions associated with DAergic dysfunction.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:VANDERBILT/oai:VANDERBILTETD:etd-11212017-160008
Date28 November 2017
CreatorsDavis, Gwynne Lane
ContributorsRandy Blakely, James Bodfish, Jeremy Veenstra-Vanderweele, David Zald
PublisherVANDERBILT
Source SetsVanderbilt University Theses
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
Typetext
Formatapplication/pdf
Sourcehttp://etd.library.vanderbilt.edu/available/etd-11212017-160008/
Rightsrestrictone, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to Vanderbilt University or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report.

Page generated in 0.0017 seconds