SvenskaTo recall is not always easy. But, of course, I started to remember a lot when I went to Sri Lanka. How I got to know Anu and also the work at the Behavioral Pharmacology Unit at the Department of Pharmacology at Gothenburg University.
When I studied at Uppsala University I had some extra courses within neurobiology, so that is how my interest for brain research emerged. I have always been very interested in a lot of subjects, but at that time, the brain was very fascinating. And still is. I was also very interested in teaching. I liked my work. I remember all ups and downs. Getting negative results and still have to keep motivation going. But, that is good for personal development. How to face challenges and how to deal with failures. Because that is life.
I learnt a lot about the brain. Alcohol addiction was my subject with special emphasize on the role of nicotinic receptor interactions with brain dopaminergic neurons. We had support from the NIDA (national institute on drug abuse) and that gave a more clinical focus even though we performed pre-clinical research.
Alcohol (ethanol) is a very small molecule with both hydrophilic and lipophilic characteristics. That is why it so easily pass the blood brain barrier and effects many different brain areas. Of course, the effect is dose-dependent. In small doses, ethanol is exerting CNS-stimulation leading to euphoria. And in larger doses, it causes anxiolysis, sedation and muscle relaxation. This is nicely presented above as “The brain symphony orchestra”. It should be noted that the effect of ethanol is very complex, also depending on a lot of individual factors such as genes, gender, age, hormones and environment.
To develop alcoholism takes several years, and addiction should be considered as a disease. And it is, described in eg the DSM (diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders). Today, several pharmacological tools are available for assisting treatment of ethanol addiction. However, and sadly, relapse is a part of the disease. It may be triggered by many cues where memory plays a huge role. Craving. The pre-frontal cortex is very important where the inhibitory circuits of the brain are located. How to control an impulse. In addition, this is a very interesting brain region from a philosophical point of view. How to control emotions and actions. For the interesting reader the author Antonio Damasio has written some books worth reading.
Above is also a section of the human brain. Several brain areas are presented and the most important (today) brain areas are pin pointed. I like to see more focus on the “feelings”, like Motivation/Drive, Memory/learning, Inhibitory control, and not the least Reward. Just because the brain areas interacts in a very complex way.
I am actually writing from my memory, but I got a book from Professor Jörgen Engel that he has published in collaboration with Lundbeck. I have taken the images from this book. I remember that we used these images a lot when lecturing.