ArticleMolecular psychiatry2026
Nociceptin orphanin F/Q Pathways are dysregulated by stress and modulate reward responsiveness and motivated behavior across species.
Article in Molecular psychiatry, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Probing biomarkers and clinical utility of reward learning across species using the Probabilistic Reward Task: 20 years of findings.Nature. Mental health · 2026Article
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Authors and funding
9 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Nociceptin orphanin F/Q has been implicated in stress-related depressive phenotypes. Specifically, exposure to chronic stressors upregulates nociceptin receptors (NOPR), whereas NOPR antagonism has antidepressant/anti-anhedonic effects. However, the mechanisms underlying reward-related effects remain unclear. Here, we investigated the role of NOPR in a broad spectrum of reward-related phenotypes (reward consumption, reward learning, motivated behavior) alongside potentially prohedonic effects of NOPR antagonism across species. Study 1 evaluated whether exposure to early-life adversity upregulated ventral tegmental area (VTA) and striatal prepronociceptin (Pnoc) gene expression in adult mice. Study 2 assessed whether NOPR antagonism boosted reward learning in rats using the touchscreen-based Probabilistic Reward Task. Finally, Study 3 tested whether NOPR antagonism modulated decision about motivated behavior using the Effort Expenditure for Reward Task among depressed humans. In Study 1, early-life adversity induced reduced sucrose preference and produced enduring and sex-dependent alterations in effort-related reward behavior, and increased Pnoc expression in the VTA; in females (but not males), early-life adversity increased Pnoc expression in the dorsal striatum. In Study 2, acute administration of 30 mg/kg (but not lower doses) of a NOPR antagonist (BTRX-246040) enhanced reward learning in rats. Finally, in Study 3, relative to placebo, 8-week treatment with BTRX-246040 modulated choice consistency during a motivated task in depressed humans. Collectively, our findings indicate that chronic stress alters Pnoc and mRNA levels of Pnoc-expressing cells in a sex-selective and region-specific manner impacting reward structures, and that NOPR antagonism shows promising efficacy in increasing reward-related behaviors in rodents and humans. Future studies using similar manipulations and outcome measures across species are warranted.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.