# Behavioral and Cognitive Core

> **NIH NIH U2C** · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · 2020 · $237,000

## Abstract

Project Summary (Behavioral and Cognitive Core)
Metabolic disorders, including diabetes, are characterized by abnormalities in circulating substrates (glucose,
lipids) as well as their causes and consequences vis-à-vis peripheral tissues including the endocrine pancreas,
liver, adipose tissue, and others. While this peripheral focus has been vital for developing current therapeutic
approaches, recent years have seen a steady progression in understanding the importance of the central
nervous system (CNS) in terms of receiving signals from these peripheral organs, integrating them with
circulating nutrients and diverse non-homeostatic factors, and then coordinating activity among diverse
systems to optimally control glycemia and other parameters. An important component of this activity is the
CNS control of behavior. Recognizing the importance of the interplay between the CNS and peripheral
metabolism, NIDDK modified the RFP for the current round of MMPC applications by explicitly naming
behavioral assays as key phenotypic endpoints to be offered. This innovation is timely and nicely fits with a
successful internal behavioral core that has historically served UC's MDI and Obesity Research Center.
Although this internal core wasn't explicitly advertised, investigators in other institutions and industry learned of
it and utilized it on a limited basis; however, we have been unable to make these services widely available to
non-UC investigators due to funding limitations. We are proposing that this already-existing core become an
official Behavior and Cognitive Core of the UC-MMPC, thereby making its services and considerable
behavioral expertise broadly available to non-UC investigators. By doing so, we are also taking advantage of
the extremely well-established MMPC core structure and its mechanism for the retrieval of service fees. There
are four broad, long-range aims of this Core:
Specific Aim 1: To provide sophisticated state-of-the-art behavioral assays that allow investigators to better
characterize mouse models of metabolic disorders.
Specific Aim 2: To advise investigators on the most appropriate behavioral tests, as well as the optimal
sequence to be used when performing different assays.
Specific Aim 3: To train investigators in the execution and analysis of specialized behavioral procedures
established and routinely practiced in the Core.
Specific Aim 4: To continuously improve current paradigms and develop new ones, including methods to
enhance the efficiency and accuracy of behavioral assessments in mice.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9972910
- **Project number:** 5U2CDK059630-20
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
- **Principal Investigator:** Stephen C Benoit
- **Activity code:** U2C (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $237,000
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9972910

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9972910, Behavioral and Cognitive Core (5U2CDK059630-20). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9972910. Licensed CC0.

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