# Colliculopulvinar contributions to alpha dysregulation and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia

> **NIH NIH R21** · NATHAN S. KLINE INSTITUTE FOR PSYCH RES · 2022 · $245,850

## Abstract

Schizophrenia (Sz) is a severe psychiatric disorder associated with core neurocognitive
deficits. Although, traditional models of schizophrenia focus on dysfunction within cognitive and
sensory processing cortical regions, increasing evidence has accumulated suggestive of
subcortical processing impairments as well. Deficits along the subcortical visual pathways,
especially involving the magnocellular visual pathway, have been tied to deficits in the
generation of early cortical responses which, in turn, contribute to higher-order cortical
impairments. These deficits, however, may not account for all visual information processing
abnormalities in Sz. Recently, we have observed deficits in the modulation of ongoing scalp-
recorded alpha activity, which appear independent of the traditional magno/parvocellular
pathways, and which may be mediated by dysfunction of the “retinotectal” visual pathway, which
involves the superior colliculus (SC) and the pulvinar nucleus of the thalamus (PuN), but which
bypasses the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN). At present, tools for the evaluation of the
retinotectal system within neuropsychiatric populations remain limited. In this project we will
conduct a side-by-side comparison of potential paradigms gleaned from the basic science
literature to elicit PuN/SC activation and will study their feasibility and psychometric properties.
These paradigms will then be used to assess the integrity of PuN/SC processing in Sz relative
to alpha generation and cognitive performance.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10388226
- **Project number:** 5R21MH123875-02
- **Recipient organization:** NATHAN S. KLINE INSTITUTE FOR PSYCH RES
- **Principal Investigator:** Antigona Martinez
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $245,850
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2021-04-15 → 2024-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10388226

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10388226, Colliculopulvinar contributions to alpha dysregulation and cognitive dysfunction in schizophrenia (5R21MH123875-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10388226. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*