# How neural signals are integrated over time

> **NIH NIH F30** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2024 · $53,974

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT:
When we navigate a new environment, we have an internal understanding of where we are located in that
environment. To build this internal sense of space, our brains integrate over time our estimate of how far we
are walking and in which direction. I propose to study how brains integrate sensory information over time to
form a working spatial memory. This question is pertinent to human health because impairments of spatial
working memory are hallmarks of neurological and psychiatric disorders, like Alzheimer's disease and
schizophrenia. A more detailed understanding of the mechanisms underlying spatial cognition should ultimately
lead to more rational treatments for these conditions. I will study neural integration in the Drosophila central
complex, an emerging model for spatial navigation that has notable similarities with the mammalian
navigational system. Building on recent work that has characterized neural signals that track the direction and
speed in which a fly travels, I will analyze central complex cells for processes that might integrate such signals
into a working memory of a fly's position in space. The long-term objective of this project is to build a cellular-
and circuit-level understanding of how neural signals are integrated over time to form working memories of
spatial variables.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10805444
- **Project number:** 5F30EY033692-03
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Abigail Marie Janke
- **Activity code:** F30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $53,974
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2022-03-09 → 2026-03-08

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10805444

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10805444, How neural signals are integrated over time (5F30EY033692-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-25 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10805444. Licensed CC0.

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