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Updated: Feb 2, 2026
Chronic Intermittent Ethanol Vapor Exposure Paired with Two-Bottle Choice to Model Alcohol Use Disorder
Published on: June 23, 2023
The use of chemogenetic approaches in alcohol use disorder research and treatment
1Department of Neuroscience and Experimental Therapeutics, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University Health Science Center, Bryan, TX 77807, United States.
Abstract:
Several novel techniques were developed recently to explore neural circuit mechanisms of neuropsychiatric disorders. These techniques include the Designer Receptors Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADD)-based chemogenetic tools, which represent valuable platforms for selective and non-invasive control of neural activity with a high degree of spatial resolution. Among all variants, Gq- and Gi-DREADDs are widely used by neuroscientists to dissect out the circuitry and cellular signals. This review is focused on strategies to access a specific neuronal population or circuit using the DREADD technique and summarizes the current knowledge of the DREADDs' application in alcohol use disorder research and therapeutics.
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