Federal Grant Award Summary

The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) awarded Princeton University a Mental Health Research Grants project grant (CFDA 93.242) totaling $777,124, effective June 15, 2026, through February 28, 2031. This research initiative investigates the computational and neural mechanisms underlying context inference and prediction in primate cognition. The project combines computational modeling with electrophysiological recordings in non-human primates to elucidate how the brain represents, learns, and utilizes contextual information to guide situationally-appropriate behaviors.

The research deliverables include empirical neuronal activity data collected from the prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and striatum of primates performing context-dependent sequence prediction tasks. The project will produce scientific publications, datasets, and mechanistic insights testing three theoretical computational models that propose distinct pathways for context representation learning: within prefrontal cortex alone, through prefrontal cortex and basal ganglia interactions, and through prefrontal cortex and hippocampus interactions. Specific outputs will characterize the structural properties of neural context representations (compositional versus conjunctive) and demonstrate how contextual knowledge generalizes across different behavioral contexts, thereby advancing fundamental understanding of cognitive processes underlying context-dependent decision-making and prediction.