# Modeling age-specific computational strategies during reward seeking

> **NIH NIH R00** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $246,685

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY (See instructions): 
The neuronal circuitry underlying motivational processes in adolescent models is understudied but clinically 
relevant because disorders such as depression, schizophrenia, and substance use disorder, which are 
marked by alterations in motivation, emerge during adolescence. The frontal cortex and striatum are critical 
targets because they are amongst the last regions to mature. My previous work investigated how 
orbitofrontal cortex (OFC)-dorsomedial (DMS) circuits guide goal-directed processes and control response 
inhibition in adolescent and adult rats. Additionally, I investigated the impact of adolescent alcohol 
exposure on these networks. I found that adolescent alcohol exposure is associated with age-specific 
changes in OFC and DMS response to conditioned stimuli and reward. In a separate study, I recorded from 
dopamine neurons and observed that adolescents exhibited a larger phasic response to reward in a 
stimulus-driven task, while adults exhibit a larger response when reward is acquired during a goal-driven 
task. Collectively, these data suggest adolescent alcohol exposure promotes lasting changes in OFC-DMS 
circuits, and that adolescents and adults employ different computational strategies during reward-seeking, 
likely due to age-specific activity in cortical-striatal circuits. The proposed projects use a combination of 
computational modeling, chemogenetics and in vivo electrophysiology recordings to test the hypotheses 
that (1) developmental maturation is characterized by an enhanced ability to employ goal-directed control 
of behavior and (2) adolescent alcohol exposure causes pathology in neural circuits required for goaldirected control. These experiments will further elucidate the relationship between goal-directed processes, 
adolescent alcohol exposure and risk of addiction-related behaviors. Using previously acquired recordings 
of the OFC and DMS in adult and adolescent rats (K99), I will integrate experimental and computational 
approaches to model neural strategies underlying motivated behavior in adolescents and adults (Aim 1). 
Next, I will use chemogenetics to test the model predictions and determine causality between behavior and 
physiology (Aim 2). Lastly, I will determine how engagement of different computational strategies is 
impacted by adolescent alcohol exposure (Aim 3). These translational results will enhance our mechanistic 
and computational understanding of adolescent brain function which is fundamental for understanding the 
etiology and pathophysiology of disorders with an adolescent onset, such as addiction.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10934626
- **Project number:** 4R00AA030670-03
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Aqilah Maryam McCane
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $246,685
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2023-09-20 → 2027-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10934626

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10934626, Modeling age-specific computational strategies during reward seeking (4R00AA030670-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10934626. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*