Understanding brain circuits that shape mood using direct brain recordings
Official title: Intracranial Investigation of Neural Circuity Underlying Human Mood
Funded at Baylor College of Medicine · NIH-11308208 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project uses direct brain recordings and explainable AI to find brain activity patterns linked to depression in people undergoing intracranial monitoring or deep brain stimulation.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Baylor College of Medicine NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Houston, United States) |
| Project start | June 1, 2023 |
| Project end | March 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $910,957 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH130597-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11308208 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are adults with treatment-resistant depression considering or enrolled in deep brain stimulation trials, and people with epilepsy already undergoing intracranial monitoring who agree to research recordings.
✕Less likely to help
People with mild depression or those unwilling to have intracranial monitoring or implanted devices are unlikely to receive direct benefit from this work.
What this research studies
Researchers will record electrical activity directly from brain sensors in two groups: people with epilepsy who need intracranial monitoring and people with treatment-resistant depression receiving deep brain stimulation. They will apply explainable artificial intelligence methods to link precise, time-resolved brain signals to mood, attention, and behavior. The team aims to build interpretable models that reveal which brain circuits drive depressive symptoms and which signals reliably predict mood changes. These findings could help guide better-targeted brain-stimulation therapies.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: Could point to clearer brain targets and smarter, more personalized brain-stimulation treatments for people with severe, treatment-resistant depression.
How similar studies have gone: Previous intracranial recording and DBS studies have yielded valuable insights and occasional clinical improvements, but combining large human intracranial datasets with explainable AI for mood circuits is relatively new.
Where this research is happening
-
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sheth, Sameer Anil — Baylor College of Medicine
- Study coordinator: Sheth, Sameer Anil
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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.