Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded a $449,625 Project Grant to Boston University Medical Campus (Trustees of Boston University) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) on July 9, 2026. The project will conclude on July 8, 2028. This research grant funds a two-year investigation into the behavioral functions of cotransmission in cost/benefit decision-making, specifically examining how specialized neural circuits enable animals to make adaptive behavioral choices when selecting between pursuing rewards and avoiding threats. The research focuses on understanding the role of a unique population of entopeduncular neurons that cotransmit both gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, and how this circuitry linking the tail of the striatum, entopeduncular nucleus, and lateral habenula facilitates rapid behavioral adaptation following aversive stimuli.

The project will generate behavioral and neurobiological research products that advance understanding of basal ganglia circuit function in action selection and aversive learning. Researchers will employ experimental tasks requiring animals to suppress escape responses to threatening stimuli to obtain rewards, with results expected to elucidate how distinct midbrain dopamine neuron populations and their downstream circuits control learning and adaptive behavior in response to both positive and negative environmental stimuli. The research will be conducted at the awardee's facility in Roxbury, Massachusetts.