Project Grant R01MH143827
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) $803,849 on June 3, 2026, as a Project Grant under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to conduct brain-wide analysis of input/output relationships in the reward system. MIT will use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques to study integrated input/output relationships between brain regions involved in reward-related tasks. The research centers on a novel genetically...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded the University of Pittsburgh $437,250 on June 5, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to characterize striatal dopamine dynamics in SHANK3-deficient mice during postnatal development. The project combines fiber photometry imaging, whole-cell electrophysiology, and genetic tools to investigate how loss of SHANK3 protein—a genetic risk factor for autism spectrum disorder—affects the maturation of dopaminergic circuits...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Massachusetts Institute of Technology $443,575 on September 1, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to investigate how maternal immune activation alters dopamine circuit function and development. The project examines the structural and functional impact of in utero immune activation on the striosome-dendron bouquet, a striatal circuit that directly controls dopamine neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Aim 1...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Massachusetts Institute of Technology $543,711 on August 20, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242, Assistance Listing R01MH145508) to investigate endocannabinoid-mediated inhibitory synaptic mechanisms of hippocampal plasticity using all-optical physiology. The research employs simultaneous patterned optogenetic stimulation and genetically targeted voltage imaging to track synaptic plasticity with millisecond and...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Massachusetts Institute of Technology $735,182 under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) on August 1, 2026, to investigate how social interactions promote recovery from viral infections through interleukin-10 (IL-10)–mediated mechanisms. The research uses murine models to explore the neural-immune pathways linking social touch, oxytocin, and IL-10 in recovery from virally induced sickness behaviors. The project will determine...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded the University of Massachusetts Medical School $162,560 on February 4, 2027, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to define molecular pathways in monoamine circuit development using autism-related syndrome genes in zebrafish. The recipient will conduct behavioral assays, sequencing, and imaging of monoamine circuits and brain-wide activity changes in zebrafish with mutations in genes associated with autism-related...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary $666,010 on September 1, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to study co-transmission of GABA and glutamate in cortical circuits and the role of neuromodulatory inputs in adult cortical plasticity. The recipient will employ anatomical circuit tracing, whole-cell electrophysiology, and in vivo two-photon imaging in mouse cortex to investigate how cholinergic and serotonergic...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory $528,000 on June 19, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to support developmental characterization of synapses between neurons and oligodendrocyte precursor cells. The funded research investigates structural, functional, and molecular properties of neuron-OPC synapses, a class of synaptic connections that remain poorly understood despite evidence that oligodendrocyte precursor cells...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Yale University $157,388 on July 1, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to functionally characterize somatic mosaic variants in the brains of patients with schizophrenia and autism and determine their causal roles in neurodevelopmental disease. The funded work applies massively parallel reporter assays, CRISPR technology, and human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived neural progenitor cells and post-mitotic neurons...
- The National Institute of Mental Health awarded the University of Massachusetts Medical School $125,169 on July 30, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242, assistance type: Project Grant) to investigate brain metabolic dysfunction as a mechanism underlying autism spectrum disorder. The project uses non-invasive magnetic resonance spectroscopy to measure brain metabolites as markers of metabolic dysfunction in autistic adolescents relative to non-autistic peers,...
The National Institute of Mental Health awarded Massachusetts Institute of Technology $805,382 on September 1, 2026, under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to study social perception and cognition in a marmoset model of Phelan-McDermid Syndrome. The award funds research into neural impairments in social perception and cognition caused by SHANK3 gene mutations, with investigation of whether gene therapy can correct those impairments. MIT will implant electrocorticography arrays over the visual cortex, inferior temporal cortex, auditory cortex, and prefrontal cortex in marmosets with SHANK3 mutations, taking neural recordings before and after gene therapy. Aim 1 tests whether cortical systems for social information processing are impaired in SHANK3 mutant marmosets compared to wild-type animals, using both controlled experimental conditions with static images and video clips and naturalistic home-cage recordings with cage-mates analyzed through automated video methods. Preliminary data suggest low-level visual information processing is normal in SHANK3 mutants, but social information represented in relevant neural circuits is degraded, especially in prefrontal cortex, despite relatively normal gaze and behavior. Aim 2 tests whether the same circuits are impaired during difficult cognitive tasks, with preliminary results showing normal reversal learning but impaired working memory performance in SHANK3 mutant animals, associated with abnormal prefrontal cortex activity. Place of performance is Cambridge, Massachusetts. The period of performance runs through June 30, 2031.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $805.4k | 8/31/26 |