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

Explore-exploit balance as a cross-species index of cognitive flexibility

Award Number: R01MH144278
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/16/2026
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2031

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Explore-exploit balance as a cross-species index of cognitive flexibility - Project Summary This application responds to PAR-25-035 “Building in vivo Preclinical Assays of Circuit Engagement for Application in Therapeutic Development”. Altered explore-exploit balance is a transdiagnostic target in serious mental health challenges, including schizophrenia and mood disorders. Addressing the mechanisms that govern transitions between explore and exploit behaviors are therefore a high-priority target for preclinical models and for testing interventions to alleviate cognitive deficits that contribute to poor prognosis and quality of life. In three Aims, we will uncover the key task, pharmacological, and neural parameters leading to alterations in explore-exploit tradeoffs in mice. Across Aims we will use two well-established touchscreen cognitive tasks and computational modeling to measure explore versus exploit behavior in mice on a trial-by-trial basis. In Aim 1 we will test further modifications to each task with the goal of identifying parameters that further increase the similarity between mouse and human decision making performance. In Aim 2 we will examine how current approved pharmacological treatments for depression and schizophrenia impact decision making, testing the hypothesis that these treatments push explore-exploit balance in opposing directions. Functional neuroimaging in humans reveals that depression and schizophrenia are each linked with distinct disruptions in activity in defined cortical networks, and explore and exploit decisions are associated with opposing patterns of activity in these cortical networks. In Aim 3 we will use a powerful preclinical technique, mesoscale imaging, to measure calcium activity of dorsal cortical networks during touchscreen decision making. We will test the hypothesis that we will see evidence for distinct network activity in explore versus exploit decisions that are cognate to components of human cortical networks, and that pharmacological treatments for depression and schizophrenia must impact these cortical networks to alter behavior. Collectively, these experiments will establish computationally amenable cognitive measures of explore-exploit balance for rodents, and their link to cortical network states, as a powerful new preclinical tool.


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 = $726,312 )
2026	2026	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA	2221 UNIVERSITY AVE SE STE 100	MINNEAPOLIS	MN	55414	HENNEPIN	USA	Mental Health Research - Research Projects	000	1	8/20/2026	NEW	$726,312
														Subtotal = $726,312

Grand Total All Awards = $726,312

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Explore-exploit balance as a cross-species index of cognitive flexibility

Award Number: R01MH144278

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MENTAL HEALTH

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

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

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 08/16/2026

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 05/31/2031

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer