Understanding how enriching environments help recovery from heroin use
Official title: Environmental enrichment reverses heroin-caused neural and behavioral adaptations in rats
Funded at Queens College · NIH-11190866 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This research explores how supportive environments can help rats overcome heroin addiction and prevent relapse.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Queens College NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Flushing, United States) |
| Project start | September 10, 2024 |
| Project end | June 30, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $151,000 |
| NIH project number | 5R16GM153699-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11190866 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This foundational animal research is not recruiting human participants, but future clinical applications could benefit individuals seeking recovery from heroin use disorder.
✕Less likely to help
Patients currently seeking immediate treatment for heroin use disorder will not directly benefit from this specific animal research.
What this research studies
Heroin use disorder is a serious health challenge, and preventing relapse is a major hurdle in treatment. While current treatments have limited success in maintaining long-term recovery, a promising approach called environmental enrichment (EE) is gaining attention. This work aims to uncover the specific brain and behavior changes that happen when an enriched environment helps reduce drug seeking and promote abstinence. By understanding these mechanisms, we hope to develop more effective treatments for people struggling with heroin addiction.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could lead to new and improved behavioral and neurobiological treatments to help people achieve long-term abstinence from heroin and prevent relapse.
How similar studies have gone: Environmental enrichment is an emerging behavioral treatment that has shown promise in rat models and is increasingly being used clinically for substance use disorder.
Where this research is happening
-
Queens College
Flushing, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Ranaldi, Robert — Queens College
- Study coordinator: Ranaldi, Robert
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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.