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Brainstem Arousal Network in Human Consciousness: Healthy development vs SIDS

Award Number: R01HD102616
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/01/2021
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2026

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Brainstem Arousal Network in Human Consciousness: Healthy development vs SIDS - Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the leading cause of post-neonatal infant mortality in industrialized nations today. Typically it occurs during a sleep period – unwitnessed, it is presumed to occur during sleep itself, or during one of the many transitions between sleep and waking that occur during normal infant sleep. A leading hypothesis today is the arousal deficit hypothesis: SIDS, or a subset of SIDS, is due to a failure in the ascending arousal network (AAN) to a life-threatening stressor during sleep in a critical developmental period. Arousal is considered an essential element of consciousness, as well as essential for restoration of homeostasis during respiratory and cardiovascular challenges by providing excitatory drive to vital processes from sleep. The AAN is interconnected with cortical and subcortical networks that regulate the integration of homeostatic responses, comprised of connectivity with brainstem and limbic nodes. Our laboratory has provided evidence over the last two decades that serotonin (5-HT) defects are concentrated mainly in a cytologically defined region of the rostral medullary reticular formation in the AAN of the brainstem which we call the putative core lesions of SIDS (CLS). In this R01 application, we propose to test the two-fold hypothesis that the core nuclei in the CLS have fiber interconnections with each other and with one or more known nuclei of the AAN within and above the brainstem, thereby demonstrating they are anatomically part of the AAN; and that there are structural anatomic abnormalities in the serotonergic CLS in the SIDS cases compared to the age-matched autopsy controls. We will perform ex vivo MRI with diffusion tractography and optical coherence tomography at unprecedented spatial resolution along with 5-HT immunocytochemistry in postmortem infant brains from birth to the end of the first year of life, the period of risk for SIDS. This work is expected to have a significant positive impact. By establishing the putative core CLS as an integral part of the AAN involving medullary 5-HT neurons, it will provide the foundation for targeted future brain research in SIDS, bringing us closer to the ultimate cause(s) of SIDS and specific preventive strategies.


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 = $697,470 )
2025	2025	THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CORPORATION	55 FRUIT ST	BOSTON	MA	02114	SUFFOLK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	4	1/15/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$627,723
2025	2025	THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CORPORATION	55 FRUIT ST	BOSTON	MA	02114	SUFFOLK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	4	4/23/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$69,747
														Subtotal = $697,470

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $0 )
2024	2023	THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CORPORATION	55 FRUIT ST	BOSTON	MA	02114	SUFFOLK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	3	8/2/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $0

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $708,777 )
2023	2023	THE GENERAL HOSPITAL CORPORATION	55 FRUIT ST	BOSTON	MA	02114	SUFFOLK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	3	4/5/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$708,777
														Subtotal = $708,777

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $704,900 )
2022	2022	MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, THE	55 FRUIT ST	BOSTON	MA	02114	SUFFOLK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	2	4/22/2022	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$704,900
														Subtotal = $704,900

Issue Date FY: 2021 ( Subtotal = $725,598 )
2021	2021	MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL, THE	55 FRUIT ST	BOSTON	MA	02114	SUFFOLK	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	1	4/26/2021	NEW	$725,598
														Subtotal = $725,598

Grand Total All Awards = $2,836,745

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Brainstem Arousal Network in Human Consciousness: Healthy development vs SIDS

Award Number: R01HD102616

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 05/01/2021

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 12/31/2026

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