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Elucidating the representational geometries underlying deductive reasoning, generalization, and flexible response generation.

Award Number: K08MH143093
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/18/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/17/2031

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Elucidating the representational geometries underlying deductive reasoning, generalization, and flexible response generation. - PROJECT SUMMARY Cognitive flexibility refers to our capacity to adjust our behavior in response to changes in the environment or in our own internal states. Psychiatric disorders often disrupt these cognitive functions, but little is known about the patterns of activity in the brain that underlie these capacities, impeding the development of effective treatments to target them. The overarching goal of this project is to more clearly elucidate the specific neural activity patterns supporting three examples of cognitive flexibility: switching between sets of rules that guide our behavior in a given situation, making correct decisions in new situations by drawing on past experiences, and learning to rapidly adjust a previously learned rule. In this project, I have developed a behavioral task which can engage each of these behaviors. I will use high- channel count electrophysiological methods to record activity from a brain circuit spanning the hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, and motor output regions while non-human primates perform this task. I will test the hypothesis that specific features of the patterns of activity in these brain regions support each type of cognitive flexibility described above. The results of this project will contribute an important step towards developing more effective treatments for cognitive dysfunction by identifying the specific patterns of activity that support specific cognitive functions and behaviors. This project will provide the additional training I require to position myself to perform cutting-edge research on cognition as an independent investigator. Specifically, through this project I will learn to perform precisely anatomically-targeted, high-channel count electrophysiological recordings from multiple brain regions simultaneously in order to probe brain activity patterns relevant to behavior as they occur in real time, distributed across the brain. I will also develop the necessary expertise to analyze the activity of large populations of neurons in relation to complex behavior. This award is thus critical to attaining my long-term goal of running an independent research lab at an academic medical center, where I will operate a non-human primate electrophysiology lab studying the neural mechanisms of adaptive, flexible behaviors that are disrupted in psychiatric 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 = $194,400 )
2026	2026	THE TRUSTEES OF COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK	630 W 168TH ST FL 4	NEW YORK	NY	10032	NEW YORK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	5/22/2026	NEW	$194,400
														Subtotal = $194,400

Grand Total All Awards = $194,400

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Elucidating the representational geometries underlying deductive reasoning, generalization, and flexible response generation.

Award Number: K08MH143093

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/18/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/17/2031

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