# Project 5: Analysis

> **NIH NIH U19** · PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $429,590

## Abstract

Project Summary: Project 5, Analysis and Modeling of Neural Data 
 
Working memory, the ability to temporarily hold multiple pieces of information in mind for manipulation, is 
central to virtually all cognitive abilities. This multi-component research project aims to comprehensively 
dissect the neural circuit mechanisms of this ability across multiple brain areas. Large population recordings, 
such as those that will be obtained in other components of this proposal, open the door to assessing the 
dynamics of brain states on a single-trial, moment-by-moment basis. Yet their size and complexity present a 
challenge, as does the variety of data that will be collected, incorporating anatomy, behavior, neural activity, 
and perturbations. This project will develop and apply novel statistical analyses and modeling approaches to 
meet these challenges. The lion’s share of the variance in neural population activity is often dominated by 
variations in a small number of variables, which are called “latent variables.” This project will leverage the very 
large data sets, collected in other components of the project, of many simultaneously recorded neurons to 
develop advanced linear and nonlinear methods to identify the most informative latent variables. To analyze 
these datasets, the researchers will develop new latent variable discovery methods. First, they will combine 
advanced quantitative behavioral analysis with advanced statistical neural analysis. Second, they will combine 
latent space discovery with fitting of generalized linear models to neural data. The resulting nonlinear methods 
will provide an unprecedentedly complete statistical description of the data: these methods aim to 
simultaneously discover and capture the dynamics of the most important latent variables, and to produce a 
full statistical characterization of the responses of each individual recorded neuron. In biophysical modeling 
work, critical to creating a mechanistic understanding at the neural circuit level, this project will develop and 
test models of both local and multi-brain-region activity during working memory and decision-making. These 
models will build upon rigorous sensitivity-analysis techniques for identifying the critical network interactions 
underlying observed behavior. The models will be used both to interpret existing data and to design maximally 
informative experiments about inter-regional network interactions, and they will provide a principled platform 
from which to design future experiments that test specific hypotheses about function and further constrain the 
models.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10247569
- **Project number:** 5U19NS104648-05
- **Recipient organization:** PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Jonathan William Pillow
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $429,590
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-28 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10247569

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10247569, Project 5: Analysis (5U19NS104648-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10247569. Licensed CC0.

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