How estrogen (estradiol) affects brain reward signals in women whose loss of pleasure or psychotic symptoms started around menopause
Official title: Examining the Effects of Estradiol on Neural and Molecular Response to Rewards in Perimenopausal-Onset Anhedonia and Psychosis
Funded at Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill · NIH-11248771 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether estradiol changes how the brain responds to rewards in women who developed loss of pleasure (anhedonia) or psychotic symptoms during the menopause transition.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chapel Hill, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2022 |
| Project end | December 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $717,177 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH128238-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11248771 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Women who developed new or worsening anhedonia or psychotic symptoms during the menopause transition and who can safely undergo PET-MR imaging would be the best fit.
✕Less likely to help
People whose mood or psychotic symptoms began well before menopause, men, or anyone unable to have PET-MR scans or radioactive tracer exposure are unlikely to benefit from participating.
What this research studies
If you join, you would be asked to undergo combined PET and MRI brain scans while doing tasks that involve rewards so researchers can see how your striatum (a reward area) activates. The team will use a radioactive tracer ([11C]raclopride) to measure dopamine signaling patterns (tonic and phasic) at the same time as functional MRI. They will compare these brain and molecular signals with symptom severity and estradiol levels in women whose symptoms began during perimenopause. The goal is to link hormone changes to measurable brain differences in reward processing in this specific group.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point toward hormone-based or dopamine-targeted approaches tailored for women with perimenopausal-onset anhedonia or psychosis.
How similar studies have gone: Previous research shows estrogen can influence mood and reward processing and PET/MR dopamine imaging links striatal dopamine to anhedonia, but combining estradiol focus with simultaneous PET-MR in perimenopausal-onset cases is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
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Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dichter, Gabriel S — Univ of North Carolina Chapel Hill
- Study coordinator: Dichter, Gabriel S
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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.