Figure 4
No change in spontaneous glutamatergic transmission or spine density in dorsolateral striatum (DLS) medium spiny neurons after drinking in the dark (DID). (a) Coronal brain section with demarcated DLS and dorsomedial striatum (DMS) regions where the recordings were made. (b) Representative traces of sEPSC recorded from MSNs located in the DLS of water drinking (top) and ethanol drinking (bottom) mice 4–8 days after the last drinking session. (c) Frequency of sEPSC (mean±SEM) recorded in medium spiny neurons in the DLS and DMS of water control mice (white, n=21 neurons/9 mice) and ethanol mice (black, n=22 neurons/9 mice). (d) Amplitude of sEPSC (mean±SEM) recorded from neurons in the DLS and DMS of water control mice (white) and ethanol mice (black). (e) Low-magnification fluorescence image of coronal brain section showing sparse DiI labeling of neurons in the dorsal striatum achieved using DiOlistic staining. (f) Confocal image of a representative medium spiny neuron. (g, h) Confocal image of representative dendrite and dendritic spines in (g) water drinking and (h) ethanol drinking mice. (i) Spine density (mean±SEM) of MSN in DLS of water (white) and ethanol mice after 2 days of abstinence (2 DA, black) and 30 days of abstinence (30 DA, gray) (n=42, 11, and 37 neurons, respectively). (j) Spine density in DLS for water (white) and ethanol (black for 2 DA and gray for 30 DA) as a function of the average BEC (n=11, 4, and 8 mice, respectively). Dashed line represents linear regression for 2 DA data (black, r2=0.2) and for 30 DA data (gray, r2=0.02).
