# Neural Basis of Ethanol Withdrawal-Induced Sleep Disturbance

> **NIH NIH R21** · MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER · 2021 · $228,563

## Abstract

Project Summary
In humans and rodents, abnormal sleep patterns are risk factors for excessive alcohol consumption.
Alcohol-dependent subjects, both during a drinking period and during withdrawal, suffer from a multitude of
sleep disruptions. During alcohol withdrawal, recovering alcohol-dependent patients commonly experience
severe and protracted sleep disruptions manifested by profound insomnia along with excessive daytime
sleepiness. Sleep disturbances during alcohol recovery can increase the risk of relapse to alcohol use.
However, the neural mechanisms responsible for mediating the effects of ethanol on sleep remain largely
unknown. Based on recent findings, we hypothesize that repeated ethanol exposure disrupts sleep
patterns through the striato-basal forebrain (NAc-BF) circuit in sex-dependent manner. To test our
hypothesis, we will 1) examine the effects of repeated ethanol-withdrawal on sleep disturbance patterns, 2)
determine the activities of the NAc-BF circuit in ethanol withdrawal-induced sleep disturbance, and 3)
Investigate the effects of the NAc-BF circuit manipulations in ethanol withdrawal-induced sleep
disturbance. Our study will reveal neural basis of how NAc-BF circuits contribute to chronic ethanol-
induced sleep disturbance. We expect to elucidate the sex-dependent sleep disturbance during the course
of ethanol exposures. The outcomes of our study will be a critical research foundation for future R01
research to discover and comprehensively characterize neural circuits and molecular mechanisms
underlying ethanol-induced sleep disturbance, which may translate into clinical studies and identify novel
therapeutic targets.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10229117
- **Project number:** 1R21AA028968-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER
- **Principal Investigator:** DOO-SUP CHOI
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $228,563
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2021-08-20 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10229117

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10229117, Neural Basis of Ethanol Withdrawal-Induced Sleep Disturbance (1R21AA028968-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10229117. Licensed CC0.

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