Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27475082›Full record

ArticleNeuropharmacology2016

Voluntary adolescent drinking enhances excitation by low levels of alcohol in a subset of dopaminergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area.

Elizabeth M Avegno, Michael C Salling, Anders Borgkvist, Ana Mrejeru, Alexander C Whitebirch, Elyssa B Margolis, David Sulzer, Neil L Harrison

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Neuropharmacology, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
19citing papers in PubMed
2.8field-weighted citation impact, top 10% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

19 citing papers in PubMed, 25 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Activation by Alcohol of Prefrontal Layer 5 Pyramidal Neurons Depends on Ascending Dopaminergic Input.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2026
    Article
  2. Adolescent Alcohol Exposure Dysregulates Developing Cortical GABA Circuits.Advances in experimental medicine and biology · 2025
    Review
  3. Modulation of neuronal excitability by binge alcohol drinking.Frontiers in molecular neuroscience · 2023
    Review
  4. Article
  5. Review
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  12. Article
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  14. Review
  15. The Cerebellar GABAHandbook of experimental pharmacology · 2018
    Article
  16. Review
  17. Review
  18. Addictive neurons.Therapeutic targets for neurological diseases · 2017
    Article
  19. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Elizabeth M AvegnoDepartment of Pharmacology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States.
Michael C SallingDepartment of Anesthesiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States.
Anders BorgkvistDepartment of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States.
Ana MrejeruDepartment of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States.
Alexander C WhitebirchDepartment of Neurobiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States.
Elyssa B MargolisDepartment of Neurology, The Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction, Alcoholism and Addiction Research Group, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143, United States.
David SulzerDepartment of Pharmacology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States; Department of Neurology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States; Department of Psychiatry, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY 10032, United States. Electronic address: ds43@columbia.edu.
Neil L HarrisonDepartment of Pharmacology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States; Department of Anesthesiology, College of Physicians and Surgeons, Columbia University, New York, NY 10032, United States. Electronic address: nh2298@columbia.edu.
Columbia University · USNew York State Psychiatric InstituteUniversity of California, San Francisco · US

Funding

The Presynaptic Vesicle Cycle for the Slow Acting Neurotransmitter SecretionP01DA010154 · NIDA · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO · PI EDWARDS, ROBERT H, KREITZER, ANATOL · 1995 to 2016
$14.7M
The Dopamine Synapse and Associative LearningR01DA007418 · NIDA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI David Sulzer · 1999 to 2026
$9.4M
Prefrontal cortex and adolescent binge drinking: Role of HCN channelsR01AA023531 · NIAAA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI HARRISON, NEIL L., SIEGELBAUM, STEVEN A · 2015 to 2019
$1.9M
Alcohol and Dopamine Release: Cellular and Synaptic MechanismsR01AA019801 · NIAAA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI HARRISON, NEIL L., SULZER, DAVID · 2010 to 2014
$1.8M
Alcohol and inhibition in the prefrontal cortexF32AA022028 · NIAAA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI SALLING, MICHAEL CHARLES · 2012 to 2013
$101k
Heterogeneity of VTA DA neurons: Response to acute and chronic ethanolF31AA023714 · NIAAA · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES · PI AVEGNO, ELIZABETH MINOR · 2015 to 2015
$36k
NIAAA NIH HHS F31 AA023714NIAAA NIH HHS F32 AA022028NIAAA NIH HHS R01 AA019801NIAAA NIH HHS R01 AA023531NIDA NIH HHS P01 DA010154NIDA NIH HHS R01 DA007418
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Enhanced dopamine (DA) neurotransmission from the ventral tegmental area (VTA) to the ventral striatum is thought to drive drug self-administration and mediate positive reinforcement. We examined neuronal firing rates in slices of mouse midbrain following adolescent binge-like alcohol drinking and find that prior alcohol experience greatly enhanced the sensitivity to excitation by ethanol itself (10-50 mM) in a subset of ventral midbrain DA neurons located in the medial VTA. This enhanced response after drinking was not associated with alterations of firing rate or other measures of intrinsic excitability. In addition, the phenomenon appears to be specific to adolescent drinking, as mice that established a drinking preference only after the onset of adulthood showed no change in alcohol sensitivity. Here we demonstrate not only that drinking during adolescence induces enhanced alcohol sensitivity, but also that this DA neuronal response occurs over a range of alcohol concentrations associated with social drinking in humans.

Indexed as

Action PotentialsAlcohol DrinkingAnimalsBinge DrinkingCentral Nervous System DepressantsChoice BehaviorDisease Models, AnimalDopaminergic NeuronsDose-Response Relationship, DrugEthanolGreen Fluorescent ProteinsMaleMice, Inbred C57BLMice, TransgenicSubstance Withdrawal SyndromeTyrosine 3-MonooxygenaseCentral Nervous System DepressantsEthanolGreen Fluorescent ProteinsTyrosine 3-MonooxygenaseAdolescenceDopamineElectrophysiologyEthanol self-administrationVentral tegmental area

Identifiers

PMID27475082
PMCPMC5563459
OpenAlexW2489826112

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.