# Effects of virtual reality-based environmental enrichment on alcohol craving

> **NIH NIH FI2** · U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE · 2024 · —

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is associated with high morbidity and mortality, but only limited treatment options
currently exist. Craving (i.e., desire, urge, want) for alcohol predicts alcohol relapse, and is a diagnostic
criterion for AUD. This proposal uses a well-established procedure, i.e., cue-elicited alcohol craving in a bar-
like setting to evaluate the effects of environmental enrichment on alcohol craving. Environmental enrichment
refers to a novel and complex environment that produces multisensory stimulation to an organism. The effects
of an enriched environment have been almost exclusively studied in animal models. Rodent models of
environmental enrichment show that it attenuates measures of depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors, as well
as alcohol consumption and self-administration. As such, environmental enrichment has therapeutic potential,
possibly in combination with pharmacotherapies, for AUD. Studying the effects of environmental enrichment in
a controlled and rigorous manner in humans to draw causality has been challenging. As such, this proposal
seeks to develop and validate a virtual reality-based protocol for testing the effects of environmental
enrichment in people with AUD and heathy controls in a controlled, inpatient setting (Aim 1). Next, we propose
to use this protocol to test the effects of environmental enrichment on alcohol craving, using the alcohol cue
reactivity procedure (Aim 2). Finally, we will take an unbiased approach to initiate the investigation of potential
biological mechanisms underlying the effects of environmental enrichment, using RNA-sequencing (Aim 3).
Gene ontology analysis will be used to focus analyses on the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)
signaling pathways. We predict that virtual reality can be used to generate a reliable protocol for environmental
enrichment in humans. Furthermore, we predict that people with AUD will show greater cue-elicited craving for
alcohol, and that environmental enrichment will attenuate craving for alcohol. Furthermore, we predict that
AUD will be associated with altered gene expression related to BDNF signaling pathways, which will be in part
remediated following exposure to environmental enrichment. This proposal will set the stage for well-controlled
investigation of environmental enrichment in humans (Aim 1) and will be the first to rigorously test the effects of
environmental enrichment on alcohol craving in people with AUD (Aim 2). Finally, this proposal also generates
preliminary data to begin investigating the molecular effects of environmental enrichment in humans (Aim 3).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10941553
- **Project number:** 1FI2GM154714-01
- **Recipient organization:** U.S. NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE
- **Principal Investigator:** Ryan Edward Tyler
- **Activity code:** FI2 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** —
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-01 → 2027-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10941553

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10941553, Effects of virtual reality-based environmental enrichment on alcohol craving (1FI2GM154714-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10941553. Licensed CC0.

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