# 7/8:  INIA Stress and Chronic Alcohol Interactions: Stress and Ethanol Self Administration in Monkeys

> **NIH NIH U01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $450,678

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Our longitudinal design of alcohol self-administration in the non-human primate has yielded evidence of stress
axis risk factors associated in the development of heavy alcohol drinking as well as an impairment in brain
regions involved in the control of voluntary actions. In this proposal, we will examine the ability of manipulating
stress circuitry by inhibiting glucocorticoid receptors to decrease heavy ethanol drinking and relapse. We will
also test the hypothesis that heavy alcohol drinking leads to impairments of the neural control of voluntary
actions that involves a relative shift in activation of cortico-basal ganglia circuitry between the associative and
sensorimotor subcircuits in response to context, contingencies and the predicted outcome of the action. The
associative circuitry, involving prefrontal cortical projections to the caudate nucleus, is implicated in flexible
adjustments to behavior. The sensorimotor circuitry, on the other hand, involves sensorimotor and motor
cortical projections to the putamen and controls habitual behaviors. We will use baseline resting-state
functional connectivity with MRI to investigate if individual differences in cortico-basal ganglia connectivity are
associated with performance on a self-paced set shifting task as well as heavy alcohol consumption. Designer
receptors exclusively activated by designer drug (DREADDs) will be implemented to alter cortico-basal ganglia
circuits and examine effects on cognitive flexibility and heavy ethanol drinking. Resting-state fMRI will then be
used to verify the changes in connectivity strength by the activation of DREADDs, so that this less invasive
method can be positioned to identify abnormal functioning of cortico-basal ganglia subcircuits. This highly
innovative research in macaque monkeys will advance the application of neurotechnologies to understand and
modulate addiction, a maladaptive behavior.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10090536
- **Project number:** 5U01AA013510-21
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Verginia Carmella Cuzon Carlson
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $450,678
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2002-02-01 → 2022-03-10

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10090536

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10090536, 7/8:  INIA Stress and Chronic Alcohol Interactions: Stress and Ethanol Self Administration in Monkeys (5U01AA013510-21). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-06-10 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10090536. Licensed CC0.

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