# Dissecting the role of long range prefrontal circuits in early-life stress induced susceptibility

> **NIH NIH K01** · NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE DBA RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR MENTAL HYGIENE, INC · 2021 · $182,379

## Abstract

My career goal is to become an expert on the circuit level mechanisms of neural 
transmission underlying developmental stress and individual differences in stress response and 
sensitivity. I plan to lead a research lab studying the neurophysiological mechanisms of early-life 
stress (ELS) and the emergence of individual differences in adult stress response. ELS creates 
long-term risk to depression and anxiety disorders, particularly after facing stressful 
events during adulthood. However, little is known about how ELS produces sustained 
changes at the neural circuitry level that increase sensitivity to stress later in 
life. This kind of detailed circuit dissection cannot be performed in humans, thus by 
using a recently established two-hit model of early-life and adult stress in mice in which stress 
 during a specific postnatal window increases the likelihood of adulthood stress to 
induce depressive-like behaviors. With this K01 grant and under the mentorship of Dr. Rene Hen at 
RFMH and Columbia University, I will test the role of long-range prefrontal circuits in the 
ELS-induced susceptibility to adult stress. I will combine an established two-hit mouse 
model of stress with advanced methods such as multi-site electrophysiological recordings 
and intersectional approaches for pathway specific chemogenetic manipulations. These studies 
represent a number of firsts in the developmental/systems neuroscience field: 1) the first to 
 test the role of some of the long-range prefrontal cortex associated circuits 
(prefrontal-accumbens, amygdala, ventral hippocampus) activity and communication in stress 
susceptibility; 2) the first to dissect neural circuit activity and communication 
 underlying the ELS-induced changes in adult stress response; 3) the first 
to investigate the impact of ELS in stress-susceptibility and underlying neural circuits in 
females; 4) the first to combine developmental stress with simultaneous multi-site 
recordings and intersectional approaches for pathway specific manipulations. These studies 
represent a significant career change and research redirection for me. This K01 award will 
afford me the mentorship and additional training that will prepare me to achieve my 
career goals and establish an independent research program geared towards investigating the 
neural circuits of which ELS leads to lifelong susceptibility to depression and psychiatric 
disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10212933
- **Project number:** 5K01MH117445-03
- **Recipient organization:** NEW YORK STATE PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTE DBA RESEARCH FOUNDATION FOR MENTAL HYGIENE, INC
- **Principal Investigator:** Piray Atsak
- **Activity code:** K01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $182,379
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-01 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10212933

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10212933, Dissecting the role of long range prefrontal circuits in early-life stress induced susceptibility (5K01MH117445-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10212933. Licensed CC0.

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