Improving a touchscreen attention test to find brain circuits for focus and cognitive control
Optimization of the 5-choice continuous performance test to reveal a parietal-anterior cingulate-claustrum circuit underlying cognitive control and attention
This project refines a touchscreen attention test used in animals and people to better link test performance to the brain circuits that control attention and cognitive control in psychiatric conditions.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of California, San Diego NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (La Jolla, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11325286 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you have problems with attention or thinking, this project aims to improve a touchscreen attention test that is used in mice, rats, and people so it measures the same skills across species. Researchers will change task timing and stimulus presentation to make the task more comparable to human testing and will collect EEG and fMRI in human versions while running matched touchscreen tests in animals. In animals they will manipulate and record from the parietal-anterior cingulate-claustrum circuit and test how drugs that affect cholinergic systems change task performance. The goal is to link specific brain circuit activity to attention test results so future treatments and trials better predict benefits for people with cognitive dysfunction.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: People with psychiatric diagnoses who experience attention or cognitive-control difficulties (for example schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, or ADHD) would be the most likely future candidates for related human testing.
Not a fit: Patients without attention or cognitive-control impairments, or those seeking immediate clinical treatment rather than research participation, are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this preclinical-focused work.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could produce a more reliable cross-species attention test that helps identify brain circuits to target with treatments for cognitive problems in psychiatric disorders.
How similar studies have performed: Related cross-species attention tasks exist and show promise, but prior preclinical-to-clinic work often failed to verify circuit engagement, so this circuit-focused translational approach is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
La Jolla, United States
- University of California, San Diego — La Jolla, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Young, Jared William — University of California, San Diego
- Study coordinator: Young, Jared William
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.