Slow brain activity across levels and how it affects attention and behavior
Official title: Multiscale physiology and causal mechanisms of slow network fluctuations
Funded at Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psych Res · NIH-11349777 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at slow, large-scale brain activity and smaller circuit signals to learn how they relate to attention, watching movies, and rest in humans and closely related primates.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psych Res NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Orangeburg, United States) |
| Project start | April 15, 2017 |
| Project end | March 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $665,259 |
| NIH project number | 5P50MH109429-09 |
| Project ID | NIH-11349777 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates would be people willing to take part in noninvasive brain imaging (EEG/fMRI) or patients who already have intracranial recordings as part of clinical care.
✕Less likely to help
People whose conditions do not involve attention, arousal, or large-scale brain network function, or those unwilling to travel or undergo imaging, are unlikely to gain direct benefit from participation.
What this research studies
You would see how whole-brain signals (like EEG and fMRI) relate to finer-scale brain recordings by combining human imaging with detailed recordings in nonhuman primates. In the primates, researchers will collect simultaneous scalp EEG and fMRI during attention tasks, movie watching, and rest, and perform microscopic layer and cell recordings. They will also use targeted chemogenetic manipulation in primates to test causal roles of specific brain sites. Findings will be linked to human intracranial recordings and biophysical models to connect patterns across scales.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could make EEG and fMRI easier to interpret and help identify brain circuit targets for problems with attention, arousal, or related disorders.
How similar studies have gone: Related EEG/fMRI and intracranial recording work has provided useful insights, but combining multi-scale primate manipulations with human imaging to link across scales is relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psych Res
Orangeburg, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Schroeder, Charles E — Nathan S. Kline Institute for Psych Res
- Study coordinator: Schroeder, Charles E
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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.