D3235: The effects of chronic morphine exposure on neural structure, chemistry, and development in Camponotus floridanus

Addiction and drug-seeking behavior with administration of morphine have previously been demonstrated in Camponotus floridanus. The underlying mechanism for this addiction is not well understood. The effects of addiction and exposure to addictive substances surpass behavior, with previously shown and replicated neurochemical effects. This experiment aims to investigate the long-term effects of exposure to opiates in the invertebrate ant brain. Other invertebrates, including others in the order Hymenoptera, have demonstrated reduced locomotor ability, reduced associative memory, and disrupted consolidation of long-term memory. This indicates that long term exposure to opiates has neurological effects in insects, even while the mechanisms for these effects are known not to mimic mammalian processes. This experiment investigates the existence of potential analogous structures in the ant brain that respond to opiate exposure. Such structures could explain the effects of opiate exposure. Her, I use adult Florida carpenter ants to examine how long-term morphine exposure could lead to abnormal development and changes to the brain structure, including decreased synaptic complexes in the mushroom bodies. Using confocal microscopy to image the mushroom bodies in the ant brain as well as HPLC-ED to confirm alterations in dopamine levels with opiate exposure, the experiment finds changes that could underly behavioral effects that accompany opiate exposure in ants and other insects.