How the brain receptor mGlu1 affects thinking after teen cocaine exposure
Official title: Mechanisms of mGlu1 regulation of cortical inhibition and cognitive function: Implications in adolescent cocaine exposure
Funded at Emory University · NIH-11473570 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether boosting mGlu1 receptor activity can restore brain inhibition and improve memory and flexible thinking after cocaine use during the teen years.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Emory University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Atlanta, United States) |
| Project start | April 1, 2024 |
| Project end | March 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $249,000 |
| NIH project number | 4R00DA058712-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11473570 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
People who used cocaine during adolescence and now experience lasting problems with memory, attention, or flexible thinking would be the most relevant group for future treatments based on this work.
✕Less likely to help
Those whose cognitive problems are due to other causes—such as traumatic brain injury, neurodegenerative disease, or different substance exposures—may not benefit from treatments targeting mGlu1.
What this research studies
Researchers will use mouse models that had cocaine exposure during adolescence to study how specific brain cells in the prefrontal cortex (called somatostatin interneurons) change. They will use genetically modified mice and drugs known as mGlu1 positive allosteric modulators to boost mGlu1 receptor activity in those cells. The team will measure changes in inhibitory brain signaling and test behaviors related to working memory and cognitive flexibility. Although this work is done in animals, the goal is to reveal targets and strategies that could lead to treatments for people who used cocaine as teens and now have thinking problems.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to new medications that restore prefrontal inhibition and improve cognitive function after adolescent cocaine exposure.
How similar studies have gone: Animal studies, including the investigators' preliminary data, show that mGlu1 positive allosteric modulators can improve inhibitory signaling and cognition in mice, but this approach has not yet been proven in people.
Where this research is happening
-
Emory University
Atlanta, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Luessen, Deborah Joyce — Emory University
- Study coordinator: Luessen, Deborah Joyce
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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.