# Effects of exercise on dopaminergic mechanisms of cocaine relapse

> **NIH NIH R00** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE · 2023 · $248,999

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Relapse to drug abuse is the single greatest challenge in addiction treatment. Relapse can occur even after
prolonged abstinence and is often preceded by robust drug craving precipitated by exposure to drug-paired
stimuli and environments. Aerobic exercise is a novel and promising behavioral treatment for drug addiction
and relapse. However, the precise mechanism of its therapeutic effects is unknown. The long-term goal of this
project is to characterize the striatal network dynamics that mediate the effects of exercise on addiction and
relapse. The current aims of this proposal are to examine the impact of chronic wheel running on rapid
subsecond dopamine release dynamics and dopamine terminal function as well as on the longitudinal
development of phasic dopamine signals that promote cocaine-seeking behavior and on the recruitment of cell-
type specific neural processing of cocaine seeking and cocaine-paired cues. It is hypothesized that chronic
wheel running will (1) attenuate cocaine-evoked subsecond dopamine release in the striatum, (2) decrease
striatal phasic dopaminergic signals accompanying cocaine-paired cues and cocaine seeking, and (3)
attenuate D1-MSN and potentiate D2-MSN encoding of cocaine-paired cues and cocaine seeking. These
experiments will employ a sophisticated mouse model of cocaine relapse, state-of-the-art in vivo fast-scan
cyclic voltammetry recordings, in vivo multiple single-unit electrophysiological recordings, and chemogenetic
and optogenetic technologies to examine these questions in behaving animals. The proposed experiments aim
to increase our understanding of the neurobiological substrates that mediate drug craving and relapse and
identify the neurochemical and neurophysiological mechanisms of the beneficial effects of exercise.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10573236
- **Project number:** 5R00DA047419-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA RIVERSIDE
- **Principal Investigator:** Natalie Zlebnik
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $248,999
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2025-02-28

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10573236

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10573236, Effects of exercise on dopaminergic mechanisms of cocaine relapse (5R00DA047419-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10573236. Licensed CC0.

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