The scientists focused on the relationship between the brain’s choline transporter, cytokines, and differences in brain signaling in a rat animal model. Choline is an essential protein in the cell membrane to control attention, while cytokines are proteins that regulate the immune system.
The behavior of 197 animals was studied in several sessions over five days using the Pavlovian conditional approach test. When choosing what to focus on and what to ignore during the experiment, animals with poor attentional control developed a strong craving caused by brain signals.
Subjects with dysfunctional choline transporters and high cytokine levels had difficulty controlling their attention.
To validate the resulting model, the researchers artificially increased the cytokine level. The results showed a significant relationship between increased cytokine production, decreased choline transport function, impaired attentional control, and addiction.
Source: Ferra
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