# Differential Resilience in Models of Neurons and Circuits with Similar Outputs

> **NIH NIH R01** · BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $406,250

## Abstract

All animals need to be resilient to perturbations in their internal and external environments.
Mechanisms that ensure or promote resilience must exist on a large variety of time scales, from
milliseconds to years for long-lived animals such as humans. Moreover, many psychiatric
disorders may be expressed as a lack of resilience to a variety of stresses, so understanding the
fundamental principles and cellular mechanisms that promote resilience in individuals and the
population will provide a set of backbone concepts that will inform our understanding of the loss
of resilience seen in mental illnesses. This computational/theoretical project will explore a
number of hypotheses and potential mechanisms that may contribute to increasing the
resilience of neurons and circuits to perturbation. Specific Aim #1 will explore the hypothesis
that neurons with multiple voltage-dependent currents with overlapping properties will be more
resilient to perturbation than neurons with fewer currents. Specific Aim #2 will characterize
and explore the dynamic range of small reciprocally inhibitory circuits in response to
perturbation. Of particular interest is whether resilience at one level of organization percolates
to the next level. Specific Aim #3 will study a newly refined model of homeostatic tuning of
intrinsic excitability and determine if homeostatic changes in response to a single, short-term
perturbation result in changes of resilience towards repeat presentations of the same
perturbation or qualitatively different perturbations. These studies may provide insight into
how repeated insults “accrue” to produce long-term changes in mental health.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10817065
- **Project number:** 5R01MH046742-34
- **Recipient organization:** BRANDEIS UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** EVE E MARDER
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $406,250
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1990-04-01 → 2026-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10817065

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10817065, Differential Resilience in Models of Neurons and Circuits with Similar Outputs (5R01MH046742-34). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10817065. Licensed CC0.

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