# Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention and Working Memory in Schizophrenia

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE · 2021 · $631,832

## Abstract

Project Summary
 The goal of our research program is to identify specific, low-level “building blocks” of cognition that are
impaired in people with schizophrenia (PSZ), are linked with neurobiology, and can explain deficits in a higher-
level cognitive function. Our prior research has led to the hyperfocusing hypothesis, which proposes that many
aspects of cognitive impairment in PSZ can be traced to overly narrow and intense focusing of processing
resources on a subset of available inputs, and an inability to distribute resources among multiple sources of
information. Hyperfocusing can explain reduced working memory capacity and impaired performance in a
variety of attention tasks, and measures of hyperfocusing are strongly correlated with measures of broad
cognitive function (e.g., IQ). We have developed a working model of the underlying neurobiology, which
predicts that hyperfocusing will lead to exaggerated competitive inhibition and increased repulsion between
similar neural representations, and we have obtained preliminary evidence showing that PSZ exhibit the
predicted increase in repulsion between representations.
 If hyperfocusing can be established as a significant mechanism underlying cognitive dysfunction in PSZ,
this will set the stage for (a) the near-term development of cognitive training treatments that are designed to
counteract hyperfocusing, and (b) the medium-term development of biotherapies that target the neurobiology
underlying hyperfocusing. However, additional research is necessary before moving to treatment development.
 In Aim 1, we will use several new behavioral paradigms to extend the scope of the hyperfocusing
hypothesis. In each of these tasks, the hyperfocusing hypothesis predicts that PSZ will exhibit supranormal
attention effects, which cannot easily be explained by generalized deficits. In Aim 2, we will use state-of-the-art
multivariate fMRI and EEG-based methods to provide more direct evidence of narrower but more intense
neural activity in PSZ. These methods will make it possible to go beyond measuring simple activity levels and
assess the neural representations formed by PSZ and control subjects. In Aim 3, we will use newly developed
fMRI and ERP methods to test the hypothesis that hyperfocusing leads to increased attention-driven
competitive inhibition in PSZ. Each of the experiments for Aims 1-3 will involve medium sample sizes (40 PSZ
and 40 controls). For Aim 4, each participant across the 5-year project period will also be tested in a set of 7
core tasks that are hypothesized to reflect either hyperfocusing or cognitive control, along with measures of
broad cognitive function and functional outcome/capacity. This will provide data from 200+ subjects that will
allow us to test the hypothesis that hyperfocusing and cognitive control are separate factors that explain unique
variance in cognitive ability and functional outcome/capacity. Together, these 4 aims will provide a rigorous test
of the proposal t...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10216636
- **Project number:** 5R01MH065034-19
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE
- **Principal Investigator:** James M. Gold
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $631,832
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2001-09-27 → 2023-04-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10216636

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10216636, Cognitive Neuroscience of Attention and Working Memory in Schizophrenia (5R01MH065034-19). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10216636. Licensed CC0.

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