Monday, September 15, 2025 9/15/2025

Impact of Trauma on the Longitudinal Development of Cognitive Control Networks in Healthy Youth

Award Number: F30MH134713
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/30/2023
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/29/2027

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Impact of Trauma on the Longitudinal Development of Cognitive Control Networks in Healthy Youth - Project Summary/Abstract Psychiatric disorders are the most prevalent debilitating illnesses across the lifespan. Importantly, epidemiologic studies indicate that 75% of all diagnosable psychiatric disorders begin prior to age 24, highlighting the need for investigations of the developing brain. Exposure to traumatic events during childhood and adolescence can induce maladaptive functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, leading to long-term structural and functional alterations in stress-sensitive brain regions that are known to be critical for cognitive control. Similar neural aberrations have been identified across a range of mental health disorders, including anxiety, ADHD, and depression. However, the extant literature focusing specifically on the impact of trauma and HPA axis activation on the development of cognitive control networks is extremely sparse. Given the high incidence of trauma in youth and ties with psychopathology, it is imperative that we develop a more detailed understanding of the neurophysiological changes underlying brain development in the context of trauma exposure. The proposed fellowship aims to partially remedy these knowledge gaps by utilizing the excellent spatial and temporal precision (i.e., millisecond) of magnetoencephalography (MEG) to investigate the developmental trajectory of brain networks critical to cognitive control and the impact of trauma and HPA axis activation on such networks. Briefly, participants between the ages of 6 to 15 years-old will annually complete a cognitive control task during MEG, complete cognitive and emotional assessments, and provide hair samples. The resulting MEG data will be transformed into the time-frequency domain and imaged using a beamforming approach, while the hair samples will be used to compute mean cortisol concentrations over 3 months. The output dynamic functional maps will be used to examine spectrally specific brain responses that are developmentally-sensitive in regions critical to cognitive control. Aim 1 will map the longitudinal development of neural dynamics and network connectivity that underlie response selection in typically-developing youth from age 6 to 15 years-old. Aim 2 will determine the impact of trauma exposure and HPA axis activation on the longitudinal development of cognitive control networks, neuropsychological performance, and emotional health. To this end, we will leverage the latest MEG and source reconstruction techniques, neural oscillatory dynamics and connectivity analysis methods, hair cortisol concentrations, and cognitive assessments to map variability in the neurophysiological bases of cognitive control development in healthy youth. In addition to the sponsor, who is a developmental cognitive neuroscientist with extensive mentoring and NIH funding experience, we will leverage an expert mentoring team comprised of leaders in cortisol analysis (Dr. Megan Gunnar), trauma assessment (Dr. Patrick Tyler), and the neuronal impact of childhood adversity (Dr. Christopher Monk). In summary, this research will aid in providing a more complete foundational understanding of the key neurological processes underlying cognitive control perturbations in youth with trauma and identify potential windows for intervention.


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: 2025 ( Subtotal = $54,538 )
2025	2025	FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME	14100 CRAWFORD ST	BOYS TOWN	NE	68010	DOUGLAS	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	3	4/25/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$53,974
2025	2025	FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME	14100 CRAWFORD ST	BOYS TOWN	NE	68010	DOUGLAS	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	3	9/8/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$53,974
2025	2025	BOARD OF REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA	4215 EMILE ST	OMAHA	NE	68105	DOUGLAS	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	002	4	9/8/2025	CHANGE OF GRANTEE / TRAINING INSTITUTION / AWARDING INSTITUTION	$54,538
														Subtotal = $54,538

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $43,870 )
2024	2024	FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME	14100 CRAWFORD ST	BOYS TOWN	NE	68010	DOUGLAS	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	6/27/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$32,974
2024	2024	FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME	14100 CRAWFORD ST	BOYS TOWN	NE	68010	DOUGLAS	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	2	7/20/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$10,896
														Subtotal = $43,870

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $42,590 )
2023	2023	FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME	14100 CRAWFORD ST	BOYS TOWN	NE	68010	DOUGLAS	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	5/30/2023	NEW	$42,590
2023	2023	FATHER FLANAGAN'S BOYS' HOME	14100 CRAWFORD ST	BOYS TOWN	NE	68010	DOUGLAS	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	1	5/30/2023	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $42,590

Grand Total All Awards = $140,998

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Impact of Trauma on the Longitudinal Development of Cognitive Control Networks in Healthy Youth

Award Number: F30MH134713

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: FELLOWSHIP/SCHOLARSHIP/STUDENT LOANS

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/30/2023

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/29/2027

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