How early pain and social stress from the NICU may affect later substance problems
Early life pain and its modulation by socioenvironmental factors: Implications for substance misuse
This project looks at whether painful procedures and social stresses tied to premature birth might raise the chance of later substance misuse for people born preterm.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Georgia State University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Atlanta, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11170030 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
The team will build a new rat model that combines early painful procedures with resource scarcity and separation from the caregiver to better mimic the NICU experience. They will measure motivated behaviors across development that can be compared between rats and humans and will use existing human brain imaging to guide the animal imaging work. An external advisory committee with experts in prenatal stress and early pain will help refine the model and measures. The aim is to trace how those early experiences change the medial prefrontal cortex and reward-related behavior over time.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: The work is most relevant to people born prematurely who experienced NICU stays, and to adolescents or adults with histories of early-life pain, caregiver separation, or low early-life resources.
Not a fit: People whose substance misuse clearly stems from unrelated adult-life exposures or strictly genetic causes may not directly benefit from these findings in the near term.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could clarify how NICU-related pain and social stressors increase addiction risk, opening paths to prevention or early interventions for people born preterm.
How similar studies have performed: Previous animal and human imaging studies link neonatal pain and stress to altered brain circuits and later risky behaviors, but combining pain with socioeconomic scarcity and caregiver separation in a NICU-like translational model is a newer approach.
Where this research is happening
Atlanta, United States
- Georgia State University — Atlanta, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Bangasser, Debra a — Georgia State University
- Study coordinator: Bangasser, Debra a
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 below.