# Noradrenergic Regulation in the BNST

> **NIH NIH R01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $352,745

## Abstract

Project Summary
Addiction is a tremendous health and financial burden on our society. A growing literature indicates that
norepinephrine in the brain plays a key role in stress-reward interactions that may mediate key behavioral
responses to drugs of abuse. A previously unappreciated group of noradrenergic neurons in the field of
addiction, cells that project through the ventral noradrenergic bundle (VNAB), are thought to supply the key
norepinephrine. The primary target of the VNAB in the brain is a group of nuclei referred to as the extended
amygdala. In the previous funding periods, we identified actions of each of the major classes of noradrenergic
receptors on excitatory synaptic transmission in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, a major component of
the extended amygdala. Moreover, we identified a novel mechanism whereby the noradrenergic system
interacts with the corticotropin releasing factor receptor signaling system to drive recruitment of specific
populations of VTA projecting neurons. We also identified novel actions of alpha2-adrenergic receptors in
regulation of excitatory drive into the BNST.
 Adrenergic ligands have been identified as potential prophylactic therapeutic candidates in treating
addiction. While results in human studies have been encouraging, their overall success in improving outcomes
has been modest. We propose that this is in part due to the many disparate actions that the receptors
regulated by these ligands regulate, and that if we could develop a more specific understanding of the
regulated actions that were key to drug-seeking, we could fine tune treatment strategies to increase
effectiveness. Here, we propose experiments to delineate specific pathways through which catecholamine-
CRF signaling interactions regulate stress-induced cocaine seeking, and alpha2-adrenergic receptor-induced
suppression of stress-induced reinstatement.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9920688
- **Project number:** 5R01DA042475-05
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Danny G. Winder
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $352,745
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-07-01 → 2022-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9920688

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9920688, Noradrenergic Regulation in the BNST (5R01DA042475-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9920688. Licensed CC0.

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