# Deciphering dopaminergic circuits required for food anticipatory activity in mice

> **NIH NIH R16** · CALIFORNIA STATE POLY U POMONA · 2023 · $147,000

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Given the over-abundance of food in modern society, it is easy to lose sight of the importance of feeding to
animals in nature. For most animals, food is extremely scarce and being wise to opportunities to eat is
essential for survival. As such, the circadian system has evolved to receive a number of different stimuli—
i.e., light, temperature, food, and even fear—to keep biological processes coordinated and allow for
adaptation to ever changing conditions. The ability to tell time relative to feeding has a long history of
research, going back more than one hundred years hundred years with behavioral observations of
honeybees and rats. However, the neural circuitry behind adaptation of behavior to timed feeding has
continually escaped our grasp. In this project, I will utilize conditional genetics, viral restorations, and
chemogenetic tools to identify the dopamine population (both anatomically and genetically) that is required
for the behavioral expression of food anticipatory activity in lab mice. From here, we will build out a more
comprehensive characterization of how a select population of dopamine neurons projecting to the striatum
can inform the time keeping systems of the brain that food is available.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10629786
- **Project number:** 1R16GM145576-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** CALIFORNIA STATE POLY U POMONA
- **Principal Investigator:** Andrew David Steele
- **Activity code:** R16 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $147,000
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2023-05-01 → 2027-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10629786

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10629786, Deciphering dopaminergic circuits required for food anticipatory activity in mice (1R16GM145576-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10629786. Licensed CC0.

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