# Interrogating the role of inhibitory interneurons of the nucleus accumbens in social attachment

> **NIH NIH F30** · UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO · 2023 · $40,543

## Abstract

Project Summary
Social attachment is fundamental to our daily lives and is disrupted in various psychiatric disorders. However,
development of new therapeutic options for enhancing social attachment has been hampered by our imprecise
understanding of the underlying cellular and circuit mechanisms. At the heart of neural circuits underlying
social attachment is the nucleus accumbens (NAc), and recent work by my thesis lab, investigating pair
bonding in monogamous prairie voles, suggests that individual neurons of the NAc encode for partner-
associated social interaction.
 In a series of new analyses focused on how populations of neurons encode for pair bonding, I found
that neurons exhibited synchronous activity as a function of pair bond formation. Further analyses suggest that
inhibitory interneurons, which provide a powerful source of inhibition within the NAc, may coordinate this
synchrony between neurons. Thus, the goal of this proposal is to examine precisely how NAc interneurons
encode pair bonds, and to test whether NAc interneurons are necessary for bond-induced neuronal synchrony
and for pair bond formation. This project will leverage cutting-edge methods for both observing and
manipulating NAc interneurons and would provide the first interneuron-specific insights into how the prairie
vole NAc facilitates pair bonding.
 Together, the experiments in this proposal will expand our fundamental understanding of how social
attachment is supported at the cellular level within the nucleus accumbens. This work will also provide the
applicant with invaluable training for his future career as a pediatric neurologist focused on translating
foundational knowledge from cellular and circuits neuroscience into novel, highly precise therapies for social
dysfunction.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10669597
- **Project number:** 5F30MH131300-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF COLORADO
- **Principal Investigator:** Mostafa El-Kalliny
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2023
- **Award amount:** $40,543
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-08-01 → 2027-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10669597

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10669597, Interrogating the role of inhibitory interneurons of the nucleus accumbens in social attachment (5F30MH131300-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10669597. Licensed CC0.

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