# TMS effects on circuit plasticity and drug seeking in mice - Diversity Supplement

> **NIH NIH R00** · UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH · 2021 · $17,137

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Drug addiction is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the US. Opioid addiction in
particular has become an epidemic with unprecedented overdose fatalities, half of which are
caused by fentanyl. Our repertoire to treat opioid addiction is very limited, and the progress in
finding effective treatments has stalled. Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) is emerging as
a potential therapeutic tool; it is currently FDA approved for depression and nicotine use
disorder. This proposal will investigate the parameters of TMS use in a mouse model of opioid
addiction. Through magnetic pulses, TMS non-invasively activates cortical neurons in the
targeted area, resulting in brain-wide changes. However, several questions remain unanswered
including whether intermittent Theta-Burst Stimulation (iTBS) with TMS induces long-lasting
changes in downstream circuits beyond the targeted area, and how TMS affects distal brain
circuits antidromically activated by TMS. This proposal will address these questions using TMS
of the olfactory bulb in a mouse model. The hypothesis is that iTBS TMS of the olfactory bulb
induces plasticity changes, more pronounced than high frequency stimulation protocols, in
downstream circuits involved in learning and reward such as the piriform cortex and olfactory
tubercle (part of the ventral striatum), and that different TMS protocols also induce antidromic
plasticity in distal circuits which could underly some of the therapeutic effects of TMS.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10393977
- **Project number:** 3R00DA048085-02S1
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH AT PITTSBURGH
- **Principal Investigator:** KHALED MOUSSAWI
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $17,137
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2021-02-01 → 2021-09-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10393977

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10393977, TMS effects on circuit plasticity and drug seeking in mice - Diversity Supplement (3R00DA048085-02S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10393977. Licensed CC0.

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