Project Grant R56NS146980

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke awarded The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York (operating as Stony Brook University) $552,680 on September 1, 2026, under the Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders program (CFDA 93.853).

The award funds investigation of disrupted striatal cholinergic signaling and compulsive motor behaviors. The research tests a hypothesis that impaired striatal cholinergic signaling promotes pathway-specific changes in dorsal striatal spiny projection neurons that bias striatal activity toward the direct pathway and promote compulsive motor behaviors. Work will employ two-photon laser scanning microscopy, genetically encoded acetylcholine sensors, slice electrophysiology, optogenetics, and in vivo fiber photometry across three specific aims. Experiments will be conducted on two mouse models of compulsive motor behavior: SAPAP3 and SLITRK5 null mice. The research addresses compulsive motor behaviors—repetitive, stereotyped, insuppressible behaviors—that are common comorbid motor symptoms in striatum-based disorders affecting over 1 percent of the population, and for which treatment options are limited due to insufficient understanding of underlying brain circuits and lack of explicit therapeutic targets.

Performance takes place in Stony Brook, New York. The period of performance runs from September 1, 2026, through August 31, 2027. The assistance type is a Project Grant. The Research Foundation For The State University Of New York, the parent entity administering the award, is a nonprofit research foundation serving as the fiscal and administrative agent for SUNY institutions.