Does deep brain stimulation of the nucleus accumbens reduce alcohol intake in alcohol-preferring rats?
The NAcc plays a key role in the rewarding and subsequent addictive properties of drugs of abuse in general and of alcohol in particular. Deep brain stimulation in the NAcc reduced alcohol consumption in P rats both acutely and after a period of alcohol deprivation. Therefore, DBS in the NAcc coupled with other neurophysiological measurements may be a useful tool in determining the role of the NAcc in the mesocorticolimbic reward circuit. Deep brain stimulation in the NAcc may also be an effective treatment for reducing alcohol consumption in patients who abuse alcohol and have not responded to other forms of therapy.
LVEpiP and BiVP increase QT, JT, and TDR by altering the transmural sequence of activation of the intrinsically heterogeneous ventricular myocardium. Our data suggest that the resultant exaggeration of arrhythmic substrates can lead to the development of TdP in a subset of patients.