# Cortical-noradrenaline signaling in alcohol behavioral engagement

> **NIH NIH K99** · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · 2024 · $144,464

## Abstract

Project Summary
The primary training objective of the K99 phase of this award application is to mold the candidate into an
expert in assessing behavioral engagement for reward using advanced in vivo electrophysiology methods. He
will learn required analytical techniques for comprehensively measuring aspects of behavioral engagement and
correlated brain activity patterns. The overarching hypothesis of this proposal is that Locus Coeruleus-cortical
circuits regulate engagement when responding for alcohol, which is increased by protracted alcohol drinking.
To address this hypothesis, this award will use Cambridge NeuroTech high-density silicon probes to record
neural activity within the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and anterior insula (aINS), and also will use
chemogenetic manipulation of noradrenaline signaling, during the 5-choice serial reaction time task (5-CSRTT)
in mice responding for alcohol. During the K99 phase, the candidate will be trained in the use of high-density
probes to generate large neural recording data sets to discover the relationship of ACC and aINS activity to
behavioral engagement for sugar within the 5-CSRTT (a robust and widely used model). To obtain this training,
the candidate will work with leading researchers at Indiana University with expertise in neural recording
implementation and analyses. During the R00 phase, the candidate will use his recently published paradigm of
behavioral engagement for alcohol in 5-CSRTT combined with K99 training to further support his hypothesis.
Critical goals of this award are publishing results in high-impact journals, oral and poster presentations at
conferences and attending relevant seminars to further the candidate’s career development and exposure
within neuroscience/alcohol research community. In this proposal, Drs. Frederic Hopf, Christopher Lapish,
Catharine Winstanley, Brian Mathur, and Nicholas Grahame will form a dedicated mentoring team for the
candidate. Combined, these individuals hold expertise in relevant rodent behavior, in vivo electrophysiology in
awake animals, alcohol research, noradrenaline signaling, and relevant cortical regions investigated in this
proposal. The Indiana Alcohol Research Center, a collaboration between Indiana University and Indiana
University-Purdue University-Indianapolis, provides a nationally recognized research environment with the
resources necessary to complete the Aims within this proposal, as well as an exceptional mentoring
environment. At the end of the K99 phase, the candidate will be seeking a faculty position as an independent
investigator at an institution well-suited to for his R00 phase. The experiments in these studies will provide
valuable groundwork for future R01 applications that will incorporate methods for projection-specific circuit
inhibition and explore potential therapeutic avenues to attenuate maladaptive alcohol-engagement behaviors
for future clinical benefit. Together, this award will provide a strong foundatio...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10930952
- **Project number:** 5K99AA030828-02
- **Recipient organization:** INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS
- **Principal Investigator:** Phillip A Starski
- **Activity code:** K99 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $144,464
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-18 → 2026-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10930952

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10930952, Cortical-noradrenaline signaling in alcohol behavioral engagement (5K99AA030828-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-28 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10930952. Licensed CC0.

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