Official websites use .gov

A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS

A lock ( 🔒 ) or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Need Help

Cholinergic signaling for sensorimotor acquisition and implicit learning

Award Number: K99MH136144
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/04/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2028

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Cholinergic signaling for sensorimotor acquisition and implicit learning - PROJECT SUMMARY In a dynamic environment, learning is an evolutionary advantage. When faced with a novel situation, animals that adapt their behavior appropriately may live to reproduce another day. Associative learning requires linking distinct events across time, such as a sensory event with a motor command that results in the desired outcome. How are flexible sensorimotor associations implemented in the brain? The brain regions supporting the encoding of these events are broadly distributed suggesting that learning- related plasticity would benefit from neural mechanisms that operate across multiple timescales and brain regions. Ascending neuromodulatory systems—with their broad projection architecture and multiple timescales of activity—fulfill these criteria and could serve as a potent mechanism to link the different sensory, motor and outcome components. More specifically, the cholinergic basal forebrain (CBF) is the ideal candidate to support rapid learning-related plasticity across multiple cortical regions. This builds on a robust literature showing a pleiotropic role of the CBF to establish both sensory and motor cortical plasticity. Additionally, CBF neurons respond precisely to reinforcement, movement, and sensory events. The overall hypothesis is that the CBF phasic activity serves as a ‘teaching’ signal, locally integrating distinct events, and then projecting conjoint signals (i.e., sensory-motor contingencies) to recipient regions on the timescale of contingency acquisition. The mentored phase will exploit a novel behavioral approach that isolates the timing of acquisition of novel sensorimotor contingencies combined with state-of-the-art optical and physiological tools to test this specific hypothesis. Aim 1 will determine the spatiotemporal dynamics of cholinergic signaling to the Auditory Cortex (AC) and Motor Cortex (MC) during early task acquisition. Aim 2 will identify the causal role of CBF in associative audiomotor acquisition. In the R00 phase this framework will be expanded to implicit learning, when previously acquired sensorimotor contingencies are subject to rapid changes. Aim 3 will determine the role of CBF in implicit learning of auditory regularities. Using a combination of state-of the art optical tools, cell-type specific and temporally precise optogenetics and custom computational analysis and tools, this project unveils the role of cholinergic inputs to distinct cortical targets in learning. There is growing evidence that hearing loss and dementia are tightly linked. Cholinergic circuits play a prominent role in essential cognitive functions which are impacted during cognitive decline. Interestingly, it is one of the earliest regions to exhibit neurodegeneration in Alzheimer’s disease. Understanding how cortical networks are modulated by cholinergic inputs to produce the appropriate behavior will advance our understanding of basic cognitive functions and help develop targeted approaches to fend-off cognitive decline.


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 = $117,467 )
2026	2026	THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY	3400 N CHARLES ST	BALTIMORE	MD	21218	BALTIMORE CITY	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	8/6/2026	NEW	$117,467
														Subtotal = $117,467

Grand Total All Awards = $117,467

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Cholinergic signaling for sensorimotor acquisition and implicit learning

Award Number: K99MH136144

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: TRAINING/TRAINEESHIP

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/04/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2028

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer