Federal Grant Award Summary

Washington State University received a $639,915 Project Grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) under the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs (CFDA 93.279), awarded February 15, 2026, with a completion date of December 31, 2030. The grant supports research investigating the mechanistic underpinnings of cognitive inflexibility in offspring exposed to cannabis prenatally. Using a novel, translationally relevant cannabis vapor exposure model in pregnant rat dams, the research examines how prenatal cannabis exposure impairs cognitive flexibility by disrupting corticostriatal neural circuits—specifically glutamatergic projections from the prelimbic region of the medial prefrontal cortex to the nucleus accumbens. The study employs custom-designed equipment to deliver discrete puffs of vaporized, plant-derived cannabis extracts in a response-contingent manner, replicating human exposure patterns more accurately than previous preclinical models.

The research deliverables include characterization of how prenatal cannabis exposure alters dopamine and endocannabinoid signaling within the nucleus accumbens during flexible decision-making tasks, with particular attention to sex-dependent differences in neural transmission. By identifying the specific neurobiological mechanisms underlying cognitive dysfunction in cannabis-exposed offspring, this research contributes to the Drug Use and Addiction Research Programs' objective of developing new knowledge for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of drug use-related health outcomes, particularly addressing the growing public health concern of maternal cannabis use in jurisdictions with legal cannabis availability.