# 6/8: INIA Stress and Chronic Alcohol Interactions: Deconstructing the role of extended amygdala circuits in stress regulated alcohol drinking

> **NIH NIH U01** · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · 2020 · $491,235

## Abstract

A growing literature indicates that chronic alcohol exposure leads to recruitment of central stress
systems, such as corticotrophin releasing factor (CRF) and Dynorphin (DYN), in key brain
circuits including the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) and Central nucleus of the
amygdala (CeA), leading to altered functional connectivity and pathological behavior. However,
there remains a gap in our knowledge of the broader circuit mechanisms that contribute to this
dysregulated behavior. Our goal is to identify alcohol induced adaptations in stress circuitry to
provide a circuit based template for treatment of alcohol use disorders and co-morbid
conditions. In the previous funding period, we found that activation of CRF neurons in the BNST
are required for excessive alcohol consumption. Here, we propose to determine the impact of
intermittent alcohol exposure and stress on plasticity in subpopulations of neurons in both the
BNST and the CeA. The central hypothesis to be tested is that repeated alcohol exposure leads
to increased stress induced recruitment of extended amygdala CRF and DYN, driving
pathological behavior.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9856952
- **Project number:** 5U01AA020911-09
- **Recipient organization:** UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL
- **Principal Investigator:** Thomas L. Kash
- **Activity code:** U01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $491,235
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2012-02-10 → 2022-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9856952

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9856952, 6/8: INIA Stress and Chronic Alcohol Interactions: Deconstructing the role of extended amygdala circuits in stress regulated alcohol drinking (5U01AA020911-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-21 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9856952. Licensed CC0.

---

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