Brain circuits that drive escalating and binge drinking
Official title: Circuitry Underlying Escalation and Frontloading of Alcohol Drinking
Funded at Indiana University Indianapolis · NIH-11238476 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at how specific brain circuits change with heavy or binge drinking to help people with alcohol use disorder.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Indiana University Indianapolis NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Indianapolis, United States) |
| Project start | December 1, 1989 |
| Project end | November 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $207,545 |
| NIH project number | 5P60AA007611-39 |
| Project ID | NIH-11238476 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People with alcohol use disorder or those who regularly engage in binge or high-intensity drinking would be the population most relevant to this work.
✕Less likely to help
People without problematic alcohol use or those whose primary concern is a different substance or medical condition are unlikely to benefit directly from this specific research.
What this research studies
Researchers use two mouse models that mimic binge and high-intensity drinking to study why alcohol intake escalates and why some individuals frontload drinking. They measure alcohol-seeking and taking using operant self-administration and conditioned place preference tests while recording neural activity. The focus is on excitatory activity in the dorsomedial striatum (DMS) and how it changes after excessive drinking, with attention to sex differences such as stronger effects seen in females. Results will be used to identify circuit-level changes that could guide future treatments for problematic drinking.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to specific brain circuit targets for treatments to reduce binge drinking and prevent escalation of alcohol use disorder.
How similar studies have gone: Prior animal studies have linked striatal circuits to alcohol-related behaviors, but applying these two high-intake models and focusing on DMS excitatory changes and sex differences represents a relatively novel extension.
Where this research is happening
-
Indiana University Indianapolis
Indianapolis, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Logrip, Marian Lee — Indiana University Indianapolis
- Study coordinator: Logrip, Marian Lee
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.