# Role of Orbitofrontal Cortex in Maladaptive Ethanol Seeking

> **NIH NIH F31** · JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $48,974

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Alcohol Use Disorder is a chronic condition that can result in devastating health, social, and financial
outcomes. A key characteristic of problematic alcohol drinking is continued use despite negative
consequences. In punished alcohol seeking models, subjects must decide between drinking paired with an
aversive punishment or abstaining from further drinking. Preliminary evidence suggests that subjects
resistant to punishment show similar baseline drinking behaviors as subjects that are sensitive to
punishment. Thus, a potential behavioral impairment in aversion resistant subjects compared to their
aversion sensitive counterparts could lie in how resistant subjects update the outcomes, or contingencies,
of their actions. Recent evidence from pharmacological inactivation and ex-vivo slice studies points to the
role of the orbitofrontal cortex (OFC) in mediating aversion resistance. Interestingly, the OFC has also
been widely investigated for its role in updating outcome contingencies. However, how contingency
updating processes may contribute to punished alcohol seeking behaviors has yet to be elucidated. In my
first aim, I seek to evaluate the effects of punished alcohol seeking on OFC activity using microendoscopic
calcium imaging. In my second aim, I will use time-locked optogenetics to assess the effects of OFC
activation and inhibition during punished alcohol self-administration. In my third aim, I will evaluate how
rats classified as aversion sensitive or aversion resistant perform on reversal learning tasks used to
assess outcome updating. The central goal of this work is to investigate if dysregulation in OFC activity as
well as impairments in contingency updating contribute to individual differences in punished alcohol
seeking. The findings of the proposed research will significantly advance our understanding of the
neurobiological and behavioral contributions in drinking despite negative consequences.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 11069587
- **Project number:** 1F31AA031601-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Samantha Soto
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $48,974
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-16 → 2027-09-15

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/11069587

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 11069587, Role of Orbitofrontal Cortex in Maladaptive Ethanol Seeking (1F31AA031601-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/11069587. Licensed CC0.

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