Federal Grant Award Summary

Emory University received a $628,380 Project Grant from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242), awarded on May 13, 2026, with completion targeted for February 28, 2031. The project, "Dopaminergic and Noradrenergic Mechanisms of Emotion-Related Memory Over Development," will deliver research services investigating how emotional experiences drive selective memory prioritization across human development from childhood to adulthood. The research employs behavioral, psychophysiological, neuroimaging, and computational methodologies to examine neuromodulatory system function and its relationship to emotional memory, including probabilistic reinforcement learning tasks, naturalistic emotional video watching paradigms, and longitudinal neuromelanin-sensitive magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) assessments.

The primary deliverables include mechanistic findings on affective contributions to memory selectivity and persistence across controlled experimental, naturalistic, and everyday memory contexts; characterization of age-related changes in catecholamine function; and identification of developmental asymmetries in dopamine and norepinephrine systems that may explain vulnerability to neuropsychiatric disorders during youth. Research outputs will include peer-reviewed publications, computational models, neuroimaging data, and mechanistic insights that advance understanding of how disrupted emotion-related memory processes contribute to disorders such as addiction and anxiety. This NIMH-funded research addresses critical gaps in knowledge regarding the neurobiological foundations of maladaptive learning and memory that underlie psychiatric conditions emerging during childhood and adolescence.