# Subcortical Neural Coding and Dynamics

> **NIH NIH U19** · PRINCETON UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $404,355

## Abstract

Project Summary: Project 3, Neural Coding and Dynamics—Subcortical Regions 
 
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. The individual parts of the 
project cohere conceptually, in part, because they all involve rodents trained to perform a type of 
decision-making task that is based on the gradual accumulation of sensory evidence and thus relies on 
working memory. Although most previous characterization of neural correlates of working memory and 
decision making has focused on cortical regions, there is growing appreciation that subcortical regions 
contribute to these processes as well. Thus, this project focuses on characterization of the neural dynamics 
underlying working memory and decision-making in a network of subcortical regions. Specifically, 
cellular-resolution two- and three-photon calcium imaging will be used to characterize neural coding and 
dynamics in dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area and substantial nigra, granule cells and Purkinje 
cells of the cerebellum, medium spiny neurons in the striatum, and pyramidal cells in the hippocampus. This 
data will be supplemented with multi-electrode recordings, which capture fast neural activity that calcium 
imaging cannot. The experiments will combine these two data types for the first time in the setting of a 
working memory and decision-making task. The results from this project, together with those from another 
component that investigates similar measures in neocortex, are expected to provide an unprecedented 
amount of data that will give new insight into the processing of task-relevant information during a cognitive 
task across a wide variety of cortical and subcortical areas. Another component will combine these results 
with temporally and spatially specific inactivation data from the other two components to build and constrain 
a biophysically realistic, multi-region computational model of the behavior.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10247572
- **Project number:** 5U19NS104648-05
- **Recipient organization:** PRINCETON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Ilana Witten
- **Activity code:** U19 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $404,355
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-09-28 → 2023-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10247572

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10247572, Subcortical Neural Coding and Dynamics (5U19NS104648-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10247572. Licensed CC0.

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