# Probing the Functional and Behavioral Impact of Precision Circuit Modulation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders

> **NIH NIH R01** · MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL · 2022 · $812,766

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Network models are increasingly invoked to characterize the neurobiological underpinnings of mental illnesses.
Dysfunction within specific circuits promotes the formation of specific symptoms. This suggests an opportunity
to treat specific symptoms by modulating specific circuits. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS)
is capable of circuit-specific neuromodulation. It is also an established treatment for Major Depressive Disorder
(MDD). Clinical experience suggests that rTMS treats different symptom constructs by stimulating different
circuits. However, there remains a critical lack of mechanistic evidence to support putative network
mechanisms of rTMS, limiting its ability to treat patients with more personalized and optimized approaches.
This mechanistic proposal will first use resting-state functional connectivity (FC) MRI and customized analytic
pipelines to characterize functional network topography in healthy and depressed individuals at high resolution.
This data will be used to derive rTMS targets functionally situated in discrete prefrontal networks (e.g., control,
default, salience, limbic/reward). Next, patients will take part in a within-subject design in which they undergo
rTMS to each target on separate days. Each target will be stimulated four times on a given day, and after each
stimulation changes will be measured with: (1) REST-BOLD MRI (to assess FC changes), (2) TASK-BOLD
MRI (to assess changes in BOLD activation on paradigms validated to test RDoC constructs), (3) state-based
questionnaires or (4) neuropsychological tests. This work will facilitate individualized neuromodulation
approaches based on network topography. This will pollinate large-scale clinical trials assessing the effects of
differential circuit modulation. It will also illuminate circuit-construct relationships across neuropsychiatric
disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10582210
- **Project number:** 1R01MH129367-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
- **Principal Investigator:** Mark Christian Eldaief
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $812,766
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-07 → 2027-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10582210

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10582210, Probing the Functional and Behavioral Impact of Precision Circuit Modulation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders (1R01MH129367-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10582210. Licensed CC0.

---

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