# Neurodevelopmental profiles related to transdiagnostic and disorder-specific symptoms of anxiety and depression

> **NIH NIH R00** · WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2022 · $248,871

## Abstract

PROJECT ABSTRACT
Nearly 40% of adolescents suffer from an anxiety disorder or major depression. These disorders usually first
emerge during adolescence, and the adverse consequences of them often persist into adulthood. As such,
adolescence is a critical developmental period for understanding the biological pathways related to these
disorders. Poor inter-rater reliability and discriminability of anxiety and depressive disorders has been a major
factor in the NIMH RDoC framework emphasizing the need for studies pairing measures of brain processes
with dimensional approaches to psychiatric symptomatology. In line with this framework, the goal of this
K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award is to provide the applicant with the training necessary to identify
distinct developmental neural features that are related to shared symptoms across anxiety and depression
(distress), as well as neural features that are related to disorder-specific symptoms of anxiety (anxious
apprehension) and depression (low positive affect). Furthermore, the applicant will require genetics training to
succeed in the goal of quantifying the relative contribution of genetic influence vs. unique environmental
influence on the neural features related to anxiety and depression symptomatology. In order to achieve such
goals, the applicant will receive unparalleled mentorship by experts in psychopathology, genetics, and
advanced neuroimaging methodologies (Drs. D. Barch, N. Dosenbach, A. Agrawal, J. Constantino, J. Luby, C.
Sylvester, and D. Greene) and will have access to superb clinical, imaging, and recruitment resources at
Washington University. The proposed training plan will enable the applicant to achieve several short-term
goals necessary to facilitate his long-term goal of becoming an independent investigator at a Research-I
University, including new training in psychopathology and genetics (twin designs). These training goals will be
advanced through the proposed research. First, clinical data and functional connectivity (FC) MRI data within
the large Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) sample (n=11,875) will be used to identify and
replicate the neural signatures (biotypes) related to transdiagnostic and disorder-specific symptoms of anxiety
and depression (Aim 1). A subset of this dataset (ABCD twin dataset; n=800 twin pairs) will be leveraged to
assess the heritability of these biotype/symptom relationships (Aim 2.1). Capitalizing on recent advances in FC
MRI data acquisition enabling reliable quantification of individual-level FC (precision functional mapping), the
applicant will quantify the genetic vs. unique environmental influence on biotype/symptom relationships,
pointing towards potential unique causal pathways and unique intervention pathways (Aim 2.2). Notably, the
proposed methods can be extended to other developmental neuropsychiatric disorders, setting the stage for
early individualized treatment intervention. With a research program that employs...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10494331
- **Project number:** 4R00MH121518-03
- **Recipient organization:** WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Scott Marek
- **Activity code:** R00 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $248,871
- **Award type:** 4N
- **Project period:** 2020-08-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10494331

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10494331, Neurodevelopmental profiles related to transdiagnostic and disorder-specific symptoms of anxiety and depression (4R00MH121518-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10494331. Licensed CC0.

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