# Chronic Pain Modulation of Mesolimbic Dopamine Signaling for Natural and Opiate Rewards

> **NIH NIH F31** · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY · 2023 · $42,907

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Chronic pain is a debilitating condition that causes long-term disability. Chronic pain causes negative affective
states that often lead to anxious ruminating thoughts and depressed mood, where patients have to constantly
decide between behaviors that minimize pain but restrict daily life or to persevere through pain. Current
treatments for chronic pain often involve prescription opioids. While prescription opioids provide much needed
analgesia, opioids also have a high abuse potential that puts patients at risk of developing an opioid addiction.
The motivational-affective changes caused by chronic pain indicate that this debilitating condition itself may
increase risk for opioid addiction. Chronic pain and affective disorders show dysfunction within the nucleus
accumbens core (cNAc), a region in the brain’s reward circuit that receives dopaminergic inputs from the
ventral tegmental area (VTA) and has a significant role in motivation and learning of cue-reward associations. I
hypothesize that chronic pain (1) increases the addictive potential of opioids through changes in dopamine
signaling that increase the strength of learned positive cue associations, and (2) increases motivation to obtain
opioid rewards. In this proposal, I will test how learned positive cue associations and motivational effort for
obtaining opioid rewards is altered by pain. In Aim 1, I will use a neuropathic pain animal model, Pavlovian
conditioning for a sucrose reward, and in vivo fiber photometry to test the effect of untreated acute and chronic
pain on VTA to cNAc dopamine signaling during extinction and reinstatement for a food reward. In Aim 2, I will
use the same pain model in conjunction with in vivo fiber photometry to examine how chronic pain changes
VTA to cNAc dopamine signaling during an operant task for opioid reward. Results from these experiments will
aid in identifying behavioral and neurobiological interactions between pain and opioid addiction. My proposal,
in accordance with NIDA’s goals, would aid in identifying the biological and behavioral causes and
consequences of drug use and addiction across the lifespan. Under this training grant, I plan to receive training
in oral communication, teaching, grant and manuscript writing, programming, and further knowledge of drug
abuse and addiction. My past experiences, my current training plans, and my mentorship team make me the
ideal candidate for receiving an NRSA. I intend to use the opportunities and training provided by this grant to
become a competitive postdoctoral fellow and, eventually, successful independent researcher at a liberal arts
minority-serving institution.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10620197
- **Project number:** 5F31DA056200-02
- **Recipient organization:** NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Gabriela Carolina Lopez
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $42,907
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-05-01 → 2025-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10620197

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10620197, Chronic Pain Modulation of Mesolimbic Dopamine Signaling for Natural and Opiate Rewards (5F31DA056200-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10620197. Licensed CC0.

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