# Direct Dopamine Recording From Humans Engaging Working Memory

> **NIH NIH R01** · VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV · 2024 · $675,178

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
 Dopaminergic signaling is proposed to be critical for gating items into working memory and for
maintaining representational content over delays in the presence of distracting information. Working memory
deficits due to dysregulated dopaminergic signaling are associated with a broad range of psychiatric illnesses.
However, the precise role of dopamine in working memory has yet to be fully understood due to limits on our
ability to measure it in humans.
 Recent advances by PI Montague’s research group allow for tracking neuromodulator release in
epilepsy patients using fast-scan cyclic voltammetry augmented with machine learning (elastic net regression).
Our team can now measure dopamine responses in awake humans with sub-second temporal resolution,
allowing for precise characterization of phasic and tonic dopamine release in cortical areas that have been
associated with cognitive processes that constitute working memory. This application merges this technique
with measurement of working memory processes to test fundamental predictions about dopamine’s function in
cognitive control.
 We will record dopamine release in the lateral prefrontal cortex, anterior cingulate cortex, and
hippocampus during performance of a set of working memory tasks. Medication-resistant epilepsy patients will
participate in the study during phase-II monitoring for seizure activity with surgically implanted electrodes.
These electrodes will be implanted at Banner Hospital in the Phoenix metropolitan area (Co-I Bina). During
recording, patients will complete Delay Match-to-Sample and Delayed Estimation Visual Working Memory
tasks. Our research group (Co-I Brewer, Co-I Bae, and Co-I McClure) has used these tasks to characterize
individual differences in working memory and to explore the neural basis of working memory for the past 15
years. The overall goal of this project is to collect and model direct dopamine recordings during stimulus
presentation, distractor presentation, and delay periods of canonical working memory tasks to better
characterize the role of phasic and tonic dopamine release in working memory.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10932417
- **Project number:** 5R01MH132635-02
- **Recipient organization:** VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INST AND ST UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** P Read Montague
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $675,178
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-20 → 2028-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10932417

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10932417, Direct Dopamine Recording From Humans Engaging Working Memory (5R01MH132635-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-27 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10932417. Licensed CC0.

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