Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded Massachusetts General Hospital a $824,728 Project Grant under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) on March 25, 2026, to support research characterizing intracortical feedforward and feedback sensory processes in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The project will employ a multimodal neuroimaging approach combining magnetoencephalography (MEG) with millisecond temporal resolution and highly novel submillimeter-resolution layer-specific 7-Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to map information flow along the auditory cortical hierarchy. The research will test the hypothesis that functional connectivity abnormalities in ASD stem from a fundamental imbalance between bottom-up (feedforward) and top-down (feedback) neural influences, examining 90 adults with ASD and 60 neurotypical adults ages 21–35 with average or above-average intelligence.

The project, scheduled for completion by December 31, 2030, will generate advanced neuroimaging data, effective connectivity analyses, and mechanistic insights into sensory processing differences in ASD that may inform understanding of atypical behaviors characteristic of the disorder, including increased perceived salience of sensory stimuli and reduced top-down control. Research will be conducted at Massachusetts General Hospital's Research Management Division in Charlestown, Massachusetts, contributing to NIMH's mission of advancing understanding and treatment of mental illnesses through rigorous basic and clinical research.