This $417,861 federal Project Grant award was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279). The grant will fund research to investigate how individual differences in reward learning strategies influence vulnerability to addiction-like behaviors, with a focus on the role of dopamine signaling in the basolateral amygdala. The research aims to expand the understanding of how sensory cues related to drug use can trigger...
This $201,250 federal Project Grant award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), supports research to characterize the synaptic organization and connectivity of cholinergic interneurons in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) core region of the mouse brain. The research, conducted by New York University (NYU), aims to use a combination of anatomical, electrophysiological, and optogenetic techniques to map the diverse...
This Project Grant award, funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), aims to advance the understanding of the role of the epigenetic regulators G9A and GLP in the development of addictive behaviors. The $272,395 award, with a period of performance from April 15, 2025 to March 31, 2027, will support research conducted by The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to: Identify molecular surfaces...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), provides $358,012 to investigate the impact of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition on synaptic plasticity in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of the brain. The goal is to determine which specific excitatory and inhibitory presynaptic inputs to NAc medium spiny neurons (MSNs) exhibit ACE inhibitor-induced long-term depression (ACEI-LTD), with a...
This $162,672 federal Project Grant award, provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), will support research on the role of dopamine projections to the amygdala in goal-directed and habit learning. The principal investigator at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) will conduct in-depth investigations using optogenetic manipulation and fiber photometry techniques to characterize the function of...
This Project Grant award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), will provide $1,478,199 to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) from July 1, 2024 through April 30, 2029. The project aims to investigate the differential roles of distinct interneuron populations within the infralimbic (ventral) prefrontal cortex in regulating drug-seeking behavior and extinction after cocaine withdrawal. Key activities include...
This $1,351,034 Project Grant award was provided by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) to the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). The grant, which runs from April 2025 to February 2030, will support research on the role of somatostatin-expressing interneurons in the prelimbic region of the medial prefrontal cortex in regulating natural and drug reward seeking behaviors. The research aims to reveal the in vivo...
This Project Grant awarded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), provides $613,017 in funding to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to conduct research on the neurobiological mechanisms linking reinforcement learning and timing. The key objectives of this 5-year research project are to: 1) Examine how the temporal precision of dopamine (DA) reward omission signals and striatal neural dynamics change...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), provides $149,284 to the University of Washington to investigate the role of specific subpopulations of prefrontal cortex pyramidal neurons in regulating drug-seeking behavior. The research aims to elucidate the neural circuits and mechanisms underlying substance use disorders, with a focus on compulsive heroin-seeking behavior in rodents. The...
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) awarded a $477,000 Project Grant under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279) to the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) to conduct research on the molecular architecture of the early secretory pathway in neurons. The researchers will use cryo-correlative light and electron microscopy techniques to dissect how protein condensates structure the endoplasmic reticulum and Golgi interface in neuronal dendrites and the cell...
This federal Project Grant award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), provides $373,300.00 to The Regents of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) to conduct research on the role of the nucleus accumbens in cue-reward learning. The study aims to investigate how precisely timed inhibition of specific neuronal populations in the nucleus accumbens contributes to the selective learning and response to reward-paired cues. This 2.5-year project, running from August 1, 2024 to January 31, 2027, will use optogenetic manipulation and two-photon imaging techniques in mice to enhance understanding of the neural dynamics underlying cue-driven reward seeking behavior. The findings from this research have the potential to provide insights into the mechanisms underlying substance use disorders and inform the development of novel interventions.