# Understanding how opioids affect the experiential and neural signatures of feelings of social connection with close others

> **NIH NIH R01** · SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $610,147

## Abstract

Project Summary
The proposed project is a new submission by a New and Early Stage Investigator for an R01 (PAR-19-384).
 Social connection with close others is a fundamental human need. Feeling connected to others reliably
and robustly predicts health and wellbeing whereas feeling disconnected or isolated from others negatively
impacts health. Less well understood, however, are the processes by which subjective feelings of social
connection are maintained over time. Consistent with long-standing animal models dating back to the 1970’s,
recent experimental work in humans has shown that opioids contribute to social connection with close friends,
romantic partners, and family. Specifically, naltrexone, a common medication prescribed to assist in the
recovery from addiction that blocks the action of naturally occurring opioids, unfortunately leads to a reduction
in feelings of social connection toward close others in an otherwise healthy sample. These findings raise the
possibility that the medication used to treat addiction may introduce an unintended barrier to one of the most
effective contributors to long-term maintenance: close social relationships. Indeed, close social relationships
and the feelings of ‘social connection’ within such relationships are major contributors to relapse prevention
and one of the most valued tools for enhancing the effectiveness of medication-assisted treatment. Based on
these findings, there has been a growing interest in whether opioid pathways contribute to feelings of social
connection with close others in a causal manner and how these effects might occur. However, it remains
surprising that the social psychological consequences of opioids and their contribution to social connection
have not been more fully explored in humans. Therefore, the primary objective of this project is to conduct a
novel experimental manipulation in humans to clarify the causal role of opioids in (1) daily, naturalistic feelings
of social connection outside of the laboratory, (2) the neural signatures of feelings of social connection, and (3)
feelings of social connection in response to personalized experiences with friends and family using
standardized laboratory tasks. For these purposes, we propose targeting a sample of 210 young, healthy
adults on a multi-method randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial. Additional exploratory aims will examine
whether naltrexone induced changes in daily feelings of social connection predict variation in neural
responding to social tasks, and whether naltrexone differently affects feelings of social connection in women
and men. The proposal will link pharmacological mechanisms with neuroimaging parameters of brain function
and affective social experience both outside of the laboratory and in the laboratory setting. We therefore
anticipate that this study will contribute to new fundamental knowledge of the neurobiological pathways
underlying the maintenance of social connection with implications for...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10612451
- **Project number:** 5R01DA052883-03
- **Recipient organization:** SAN DIEGO STATE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Tristen K. Inagaki
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $610,147
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-07-15 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10612451

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10612451, Understanding how opioids affect the experiential and neural signatures of feelings of social connection with close others (5R01DA052883-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10612451. Licensed CC0.

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