# CRF NEURAL CIRCUITS OF BINGE DRINKING

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO · 2022 · $346,590

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Binge alcohol consumption is a severe public health problem and is the third leading cause of preventable
death in the USA (Hingson et al., 2005; 2007). Defining the neural circuitry that modulates excessive binge
alcohol intake is essential for developing effective therapeutics to treat this disease. Corticotropin releasing
factor (CRF) is an important neuropeptide, in regards to binge alcohol consumption as peripheral and site-
specific administrations of CRF antagonists can reduce excessive ethanol intake (Sparta et al., 2008; 2009;
2013). While CRF is found throughout the brain, the extended amygdala consisting of the central nucleus of
the amygdala (CeA) and bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) CRF projections the to ventral tegmental
area (VTA) remain a particularly interesting candidate targets for CRF’s modulation of binge drinking, since
these structures provide direct connections from stress to reward brain regions I hypothesize that binge
alcohol exposure leads to an increase of extended amygdalar CRF neuronal drive onto VTA GABA neurons.
Specifically, I hypothesize that the CRF CeA to VTA projection is recruited during repeated binge drinking
sessions, whereas the CRF BNST to VTA pathway is involved with the initiation of binge drinking. To test
these hypotheses, I will utilize optogenetics, in vivo electrophysiology, ex vivo patch clamp, and behavior.
Taken together, this proposal will provide a thorough characterization of both the CeA-and BNST-VTA CRF
neural circuits after binge alcohol intake and may identify possible pharmacological targets for the treatment of
alcoholism.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10696723
- **Project number:** 7R01AA027516-04
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS AT CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** DENNIS R. SPARTA
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $346,590
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 2019-04-12 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10696723

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10696723, CRF NEURAL CIRCUITS OF BINGE DRINKING (7R01AA027516-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10696723. Licensed CC0.

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