How the hippocampus and frontoparietal brain regions support learning and reasoning
Hippocampal and frontoparietal mechanisms for knowledge acquisition and inference
This project looks at how parts of the brain help teenagers and young adults form complex memories and draw inferences from them.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Texas at Austin NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Austin, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11312703 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
You would do memory and reasoning tasks while researchers take brain scans to see how you learn and connect information. The team will follow teens aged 13–18 at three visits spaced 1.5 years apart and will scan adults aged 19–25 once for comparison. They will measure activity and connectivity in the hippocampus and frontoparietal cortex during tasks that require forming detailed memories and deriving broader knowledge. The aim is to track how brain representations change during adolescence to support more complex memory and reasoning.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are teenagers aged 13–18 who can return for three visits over several years and young adults aged 19–25 who can complete MRI scans and cognitive testing.
Not a fit: Children under 13, older adults, people unable to undergo MRI (for example, due to metal implants), or those with severe cognitive impairment are unlikely to be eligible or to receive direct benefits from participation.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could clarify how normal brain development supports memory and reasoning and help shape new educational or clinical approaches for young people with memory or reasoning difficulties.
How similar studies have performed: Previous imaging studies have linked hippocampal and frontoparietal development to memory gains, but longitudinal serial-cohort work like this is less common and seeks to show how neural representations change over time.
Where this research is happening
Austin, United States
- University of Texas at Austin — Austin, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Preston, Alison R — University of Texas at Austin
- Study coordinator: Preston, Alison R
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.