# Neural circuit mechanisms in observational spatial working memory

> **NIH NIH R01** · BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE · 2024 · $504,453

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY
Observational learning is a type of social learning and a fundamental cognitive behavior in humans and social
animals. How neural circuits in the brain enable this type of learning is not understood. Utilizing an observational
spatial working memory task, where an observer rat learns to first observe the spatial trajectory of a demonstrator
rat and then run the trajectory itself for rewards, this project studies the behavioral and neural circuit processes
underlying reward-directed observational learning. We will focus on a neural circuit hypothesis that interactions
between the hippocampus (HP) and the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) acquire a vicarious reward signal during
observation and maintain a plan afterward for future spatial trajectories. By conducting behavioral testing,
simultaneous high-density tetrode recording, and closed-loop electrical and optogenetic manipulations in
animals performing the observational spatial working memory task, we will determine key behavioral factors
involved, underlying neural activity patterns and their interactions in HP and ACC, and how behavioral
performances are altered by time- and activity-specific disruptions of HP or ACC neurons. The outcomes of this
study will significantly advance our understanding of behavioral and neural mechanisms in observational learning.
The neural circuit knowledge produced and the manipulations tested in this project may generate novel insights
into how observational leaning is impaired in psychiatric disorders.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10997065
- **Project number:** 1R01MH134897-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** BAYLOR COLLEGE OF MEDICINE
- **Principal Investigator:** Daoyun Ji
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $504,453
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-09-05 → 2029-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10997065

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10997065, Neural circuit mechanisms in observational spatial working memory (1R01MH134897-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10997065. Licensed CC0.

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