# Striatal fast-spiking interneurons regulate compulsive alcohol consumption

> **NIH NIH F31** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2022 · $18,430

## Abstract

Project Summary
Alcohol use disorder has a major impact on public health, yet the brain mechanisms driving alcohol misuse are
poorly understood. Habits are repetitive motor sequences that persist despite reward devaluation and form the
action strategy that underlies compulsive behavior. Chronic alcohol exposure facilitates habit learning and leads
to increased habitual behavior in chronic users. The dorsolateral striatum (the putamen in humans) regulates
habit learning and its resident inhibitory cells, the fast-spiking interneurons (FSIs), are targeted by alcohol
exposure. To determine if alcohol utilizes FSIs to promote compulsive alcohol consumption, I selectively ablated
striatal FSIs in animals undergoing a voluntary intermittent drinking paradigm (Drinking in the Dark) and
challenged animals with the adulterant quinine to measure compulsive consumption. FSI ablation abolished
compulsive alcohol consumption and significantly disrupted organized ethanol lick sequence behavior. The next
essential step toward advancing this finding to a clinical application is to determine the specific time window that
FSIs are recruited for the formation or maintenance of the motor sequences that underlie compulsive drinking.
To this end I propose two aims of investigation using innovative optogenetic and machine learning approaches:
1) to determine if striatal FSIs are necessary for the development of the organized actions of compulsive ethanol
consumption and; 2) to determine if striatal FSIs are necessary for the maintenance of organized actions
underlying compulsive ethanol consumption. The results of this study will significantly advance our
understanding of motor sequence learning, the role of motor sequences in compulsive behavior, and will indicate
the necessary time window for future therapeutic interventions targeting compulsive drinking.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10497901
- **Project number:** 5F31AA029264-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** Michael S. Patton
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $18,430
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-09-13 → 2022-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10497901

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10497901, Striatal fast-spiking interneurons regulate compulsive alcohol consumption (5F31AA029264-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10497901. Licensed CC0.

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