# EEG Telemetry in Monkeys: Potential Markers of Benzodiazepine Action

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MED CTR · 2020 · $155,000

## Abstract

Benzodiazepines (BZs) and related GABAA modulators are safe and effective anxiolytics, but also have shown
dramatic increases in abuse in recent years. A major medical use of BZ-type drugs is treatment of sleep disor-
ders, and at present, we have very little information on the mechanisms underlying these effects. Nonhuman
primates, in particular, rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta) are an excellent model organism for studying sleep
due to the similarity in sleep architecture with human primates. The “gold standard” for studying sleep is the use
of polysomnography based on telemetric recording of electroencephalogram/electromyogram/electrooculogram
(EEG/EMG/EOG; hereafter referred to as “EEG telemetry” for brevity). In addition to the study of sleep, EEG
telemetry may be used to understand the relationships of frequency band changes to behavioral effects of BZs
during the wake cycle (e.g., sedation). The purpose of this Exploratory/Developmental proposal is to expand
EEG telemetry technology in our program that uses rhesus macaque models and first-in-kind compounds to
understand BZ/GABAA pharmacology of sleep and sedation. The premise of this strategy is that different GABAA
receptor subtypes mediate changes in sleep architecture, EEG bandwidth, and sedation during sleep/wake cy-
cles—all of which can be delineated using novel telemetry approaches. Specific Aim 1 will determine systemat-
ically the changes in EEG bandwidth, sleep architecture and daytime sedation induced by the non-selective BZ
sleep aid temazepam and the commonly-used α1GABAA-selective sleep aid zolpidem. Our approach will be to
assess drug effects using EEG telemetry during the sleep cycle and novel observation techniques coupled with
EEG telemetry during the wake cycles of female and male rhesus monkeys. Specific Aim 2 will determine the
extent to which BZ-induced modulation of sleep architecture, EEG bandwidth, and sedation are mediated by α2
subunit-containing GABAA receptors and Specific Aim 3 will investigate the role of α3 subunit and α5 subunit-
containing GABAA receptors in the characteristic changes in sleep architecture, EEG bandwidth, and sedative
effects induced by BZ-type sleep aids. Pharmaco-EEG will greatly enhance our ability to do innovative transla-
tional research that also should shed light on novel mechanisms associated with the pharmacology of abused
drugs in primates.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9937712
- **Project number:** 5R21DA046778-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI MED CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** JAMES K ROWLETT
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $155,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-06-01 → 2022-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9937712

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9937712, EEG Telemetry in Monkeys: Potential Markers of Benzodiazepine Action (5R21DA046778-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-31 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9937712. Licensed CC0.

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