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Oscillatory Recurrent Gated Neural Integrator Circuits (ORGaNICs): a unified framework for neural dynamics and human cognition

Award Number: R01MH137669
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2024
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 01/31/2029

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Oscillatory Recurrent Gated Neural Integrator Circuits (ORGaNICs): a unified framework for neural dynamics and human cognition - Project Summary/Abstract There is considerable evidence that the brain relies on a set of canonical neural computations, repeating them across brain regions and modalities to apply operations of the same form, but we lack a theoretical framework for how such canonical neural circuit computations can support a wide variety of cognitive processes and brain functions. Through the proposed research, we aim to provide one. Preliminary results demonstrate that a family of circuit models, called Oscillatory Recurrent Gated Neural Integrator Circuits (ORGaNICs), simulates many key neurophysiological and cognitive/perceptual phenomena. We propose to develop models of the dynamics of attention, and working memory, and to test those models with previously published datasets acquired with a wide range of methodologies: human behavioral data, neurophysiological data from primate and rodent prefrontal cortex (PFC), electrophysiology and Ca2+ imaging data from rodent prefrontal cortex, and electrophysiology data from rodent medial entorhinal cortex. In Aim 1, we hypothesize that normalization is critical for the stability and robustness of the recurrent circuits that underlie working memory. We will test this hypothesis by developing an analytical theory, based on ORGaNICs, of delay-period activity, and fitting published measurements of response dynamics in PFC. In Aim 2, we hypothesize that behavioral performance during working memory tasks is limited by trial-to-trial variability in delay-period activity, and also that top-down signals from working memory circuits provide the attention-control signals that modulate sensory activity in visual cortex. We will test these hypotheses by developing an analytical theory of attention and working memory, combining a visual cortex model and a PFC model, and using it to fit previously published measurements of behavioral performance from a variety of attention and working-memory experiments. In Aim 3, we propose to develop and test a theory of manipulation in working memory, with application to navigation, specifically using ORGaNICs to model the responses of populations of head-direction cells while animals are performing the active place avoidance task. We hypothesize that head-direction cells in MEC operate like a working memory representation, by encoding a “landmark” (a sensory feature) relative to the animal's current head direction, and then updating/manipulating the representation of that landmark as the animal's orientation changes. We will test key predictions of the theory with new experiments. The proposed research has the potential to be transformative by: providing a new set of analytical results and computational (software) tools for characterizing and simulating a broad range of neural circuit models, which will impact experimental design and data analysis; making new experimentally-testable predictions for both ORGaNICs and alternative models; and testing some of those predictions with new experiments.


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 = $796,754 )
2025	2025	NEW YORK UNIVERSITY	70 WASHINGTON SQ S	NEW YORK	NY	10012	NEW YORK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	001	2	9/19/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$119,514
2025	2025	NEW YORK UNIVERSITY	70 WASHINGTON SQ S	NEW YORK	NY	10012	NEW YORK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	2	2/13/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$677,240
														Subtotal = $796,754

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $804,635 )
2024	2024	NEW YORK UNIVERSITY	70 WASHINGTON SQ S	NEW YORK	NY	10012	NEW YORK	USA	Mental Health Research Grants	000	1	6/28/2024	NEW	$804,635
														Subtotal = $804,635

Grand Total All Awards = $1,601,389

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Oscillatory Recurrent Gated Neural Integrator Circuits (ORGaNICs): a unified framework for neural dynamics and human cognition

Award Number: R01MH137669

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 07/01/2024

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 01/31/2029

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