Hynd, Erin S; Geslain , Renaud; Griffin , William $
Excessive alcohol consumption is a major economic, societal and health burden in the United States and globally but the neurobiological pathways involved in the disease are not well understood. This study hypothesized that both the ventral hippocampus and the nucleus accumbens play a role in excessive drinking behavior. Additionally, the study aimed to compare the projections from the dorsal subiculum and the ventral subiculum to the accumbens. The mice in this study underwent a stereotaxic surgery to have a viral DREADD placed and then a microinjection of a CTB tracer. An EVOS Cell Imaging system was used to capture images of the tissue during the study. Several events that occurred during the study prevented significant results from being obtained. However, there is still hope that, with some modifications, this protocol can be used to answer the research question in the future.