# Hypocretin receptor 1 regulation of cocaine-associated behavior involves actions on heterogenous populations in the ventral tegmental area > **NIH NIH F31** · DREXEL UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $45,520 ## Abstract Project Summary/Abstract The hypocretin system has been shown to impact the neural processes that support cocaine use via actions on hypocretin receptor 1 in the ventral tegmental area. Consequently, hypocretin receptors are posited to be a potentially valuable target for the treatment of cocaine addiction. To date, however, hypocretin-based treatment approaches have been met with limited efficacy largely due to lack of neuron-specificity of hypocretin receptor 1 manipulations. This poses a significant hurdle for understanding the therapeutic potential of hypocretin-based treatments since hypocretin receptor 1 are present on both dopamine and GABA neurons in the ventral tegmental area. To circumvent this limitation, I will use combinatorial viral approaches to selectively knockdown hypocretin receptor 1 in dopamine or GABA neurons of the ventral tegmental area, thereby allowing for selective examination of hypocretin manipulations on cocaine abuse. I will apply techniques such as ex-vivo fast-scan cyclic voltammetry and western blotting to query the effect of cell type-specific hypocretin receptor 1 knockdown on dopamine dynamics in the nucleus accumbens at baseline and in response to cocaine. Further, I will investigate the influence of hypocretin receptor 1 manipulations on dopamine dynamics across key phases of cocaine abuse using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry in self-administering rats. The proposed studies will afford the opportunity, for the first time, to uncover cell type-specific and real-time influences of hypocretin across acquisition, maintenance, extinction, and reinstatement of cocaine self-administration. Together, these findings will provide a more comprehensive understanding of hypocretin modulation of dopamine neurotransmission during cocaine self-administration and uncover potential targets for future development of treatment strategies for cocaine use disorder. ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 9970151 - **Project number:** 5F31DA049458-02 - **Recipient organization:** DREXEL UNIVERSITY - **Principal Investigator:** Emily Black - **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2020 - **Award amount:** $45,520 - **Award type:** 5 - **Project period:** 2019-06-20 → 2021-06-19 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9970151 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9970151, Hypocretin receptor 1 regulation of cocaine-associated behavior involves actions on heterogenous populations in the ventral tegmental area (5F31DA049458-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9970151. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*