Wednesday, February 18, 2026 2/18/2026

The Effect of Social Isolation on Inhibitory Modulation of Tactile Processing

Award Number: F31NS135947
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2024
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2027

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The Effect of Social Isolation on Inhibitory Modulation of Tactile Processing - PROJECT SUMMARY The constant flow of sensory information into the nervous system is fundamental for interaction with the world. The brain’s ability to flexibly adjust sensitivity to various sensory stimuli is context-dependent and can be shifted on acute or chronic time scales in different internal states. This change can be advantageous or maladaptive; prey animals like rodents may benefit from becoming hypersensitive to sensory cues, as in a mouse listening for evidence of a predator, but chronic shifts in sensory processing may become detrimental and overwhelming. Importantly, a chronic shift in internal state can impact tactile processing – for example, stress induced by social isolation has significant effects on several measures of affective behavior and can lead to aberrant increases in tactile sensitivity. However, the neural circuit mechanisms underlying this shift in responsivity to touch remain unknown. The cuneate nucleus of the brainstem (Cu) is responsible for conveying tactile information from the upper body to higher-order sensorimotor regions. Recent work in the Azim lab showed that local inhibitory networks envelop the Cu in a ‘shell’ and can act to reduce or amplify responses to tactile signals. These inhibitory networks are modulated by top-down pathways that can regulate the transmission of incoming information, likely as a means of attenuating disruptive feedback while facilitating salient signals. Preliminary experiments designed to identify the origins of these top-down modulatory projections revealed that the central amygdala (CeA) provides direct inputs to the Cu inhibitory shell (CeA-Cu). Due to its involvement in stress and isolation, the CeA has emerged as a compelling candidate region linking chronic social isolation to tactile hypersensitivity. Projections from CeA are almost exclusively inhibitory, leading to the possibility that they inhibit Cu shell neurons, thus, disinhibiting (i.e., amplifying) tactile feedback transmitted through the Cu. The overarching goals of this proposal are to investigate how this pathway influences sensory signals under normal and pathological conditions. The central hypotheses are that: a) top-down projections from the CeA disinhibit the transmission of touch information carried through the brainstem; and b) that these circuits are implicated in the aberrant increase in tactile sensitivity following social isolation. To test these ideas, CeA-Cu projections will be activated and silenced using optogenetic approaches in mice, and tactile sensitivity will be measured using three distinct tactile behavioral assays. These perturbations will then be performed in socially isolated mice to determine if optogenetic activation is sufficient to “rescue” normal tactile processing. Finally, fiber photometry will be employed to measure neural activity at each component of the pathway following social isolation and during optogenetic stimulation – CeA neurons, their targets in the Cu shell, and the cuneolemniscal neurons that receive tactile inputs and convey these signals to the thalamus. This research will lead to better understanding of how altered internal states affect somatosensation and provide insight into mechanistic causes of sensory processing disorders.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2026 ( Subtotal = $46,046 )
2026	2026	SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, THE	10010 N TORREY PINES RD	LA JOLLA	CA	92037	SAN DIEGO	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	3	12/23/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$46,046
														Subtotal = $46,046

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $45,450 )
2025	2025	SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, THE	10010 N TORREY PINES RD	LA JOLLA	CA	92037	SAN DIEGO	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	2	12/23/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$44,886
2025	2025	SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, THE	10010 N TORREY PINES RD	LA JOLLA	CA	92037	SAN DIEGO	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	001	2	9/8/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$564
														Subtotal = $45,450

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $44,319 )
2024	2024	SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, THE	10010 N TORREY PINES RD	LA JOLLA	CA	92037	SAN DIEGO	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	001	1	5/14/2024	NEW	$1,280
2024	2024	SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, THE	10010 N TORREY PINES RD	LA JOLLA	CA	92037	SAN DIEGO	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	000	1	12/27/2023	NEW	$43,039
2024	2024	SALK INSTITUTE FOR BIOLOGICAL STUDIES, SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA, THE	10010 N TORREY PINES RD	LA JOLLA	CA	92037	SAN DIEGO	USA	Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders	002	1	5/14/2024	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $44,319

Grand Total All Awards = $135,815

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The Effect of Social Isolation on Inhibitory Modulation of Tactile Processing

Award Number: F31NS135947

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF NEUROLOGICAL DISORDERS AND STROKE

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 01/01/2024

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2027

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