# Longitudinal Assessment of Distinct Motor Learning Processes to Inform Mechanistic Models of Sensorimotor Function in Psychosis

> **NIH NIH K23** · TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY · 2024 · $202,840

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY.
Sensorimotor function is aberrant in psychosis, with 60-80% of patients being affected and motor disturbances
contributing to hospitalizations. One sensorimotor function is motor learning, which allows us to engage with
and adapt to our world through generating and updating internal models. Deficits in model updating are linked
to symptoms in psychosis, such as delusions, hallucination, negative symptoms, and disorganization, making
this fundamental process key to understanding the disorder. My prior work shows that sensorimotor and
cognitive cerebellar regions required for model updating processes are smaller in a subset of patients, which
may account for variability within and across motor tasks as well as symptom heterogeneity in psychosis.
Critical knowledge gaps in these brain-behavior-symptom relationships have limited our ability to leverage the
motor system for intervention, despite it being a highly accessible system. Thus, fundamental sensorimotor
subprocesses are key to understanding psychosis and determining viable targets for treatment. Using
longitudinal approaches and cross-discipline advances in measurement that allow us to parse
previously ignored or indistinguishable sensorimotor processes, this project will determine how
sensorimotor aberrations and psychotic symptoms relate, to inform mechanistic models and future
intervention research. This K23 mentored patient-oriented career development award employs a novel
computerized motor learning task and neuroimaging. The project goals are to: (Aim 1) cross-sectionally
localize aberrant subprocesses of motor learning in psychosis and link these processes to brain structure and
symptoms; (Aim 2) longitudinally map the malleability of sensorimotor deficits during natural course of illness
to identify viable, clinically relevant intervention targets. This work sets the foundation for robust mechanistic
studies on the role of unique neural circuits in distinct sensorimotor subprocesses and the data may serve as
primary and secondary outcomes to investigate entirely new avenues of treatment for psychosis, given the lack
of intervention on this system (planned follow-up R-mechanism grant). The applicant is an tenure-track
Assistant Professor of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Indiana University Bloomington with dual PhD in
Clinical Psychology and Neuroscience. She holds expertise in sensorimotor processes and cerebellar
neuroimaging in psychosis. Her long-term career goal is to be a recognized expert on sensorimotor function in
psychosis and to develop a mechanistic model of sensorimotor disturbance in psychosis that can be leveraged
for clinical assessment and intervention. To accomplish these goals, the applicant will expand her current
expertise with training in computational psychiatry, longitudinal methods, and intervention science for
translation of targets to viable treatments. Training will include formal coursework and hands-on training,
guided by a mentorship...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10984412
- **Project number:** 1K23MH135215-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** TRUSTEES OF INDIANA UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Alexandra Moussa-Tooks
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $202,840
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10984412

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10984412, Longitudinal Assessment of Distinct Motor Learning Processes to Inform Mechanistic Models of Sensorimotor Function in Psychosis (1K23MH135215-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10984412. Licensed CC0.

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