Grant Award Summary

The University of Wyoming received a $397,375 Project Grant award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) under the Mental Health Research Grants program (CFDA 93.242) to conduct research on the role of medial prefrontal cortex long-range recurrent neural networks in behavioral initiation and inhibition. The two-year award, effective June 10, 2026 through June 9, 2028, will deliver neuroscientific research products and translatable biomarkers to advance understanding of executive function mechanisms underlying neuropsychiatric disorders including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and schizophrenia.

The project will produce several key research deliverables through integrated neuroscience methodologies: (1) quantified behavioral metrics aligned with human executive dysfunction measures such as action latency, reversal accuracy, perseveration errors, and stop-signal reaction time; (2) decoded neural dynamics data from dorsal and ventral medial prefrontal cortex motor-projecting neurons across behavioral tasks using optotagging and population analyses; (3) Brian2 spiking neural network computational models predicting neural-behavioral correlations; and (4) translatable kinematic signatures and biomarkers applicable to understanding strain-specific circuit mechanisms in animal models. Conducted at the University of Wyoming's Laramie facility, this research employs four translational behavioral paradigms, high-density neural recordings, circuit manipulation techniques, and novel computational modeling to address critical knowledge gaps in the neurobiological mechanisms underlying executive dysfunction in psychiatric disorders.