# Neurophysiological Studies of Recovery of Consciousness after Cardiac Arrest

> **NIH NIH K23** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2020 · $187,867

## Abstract

7. PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This proposal requests 5 years of support to train Dr. Forgacs to be an independent clinical investigator, with a
research focus on promoting recovery after severe brain injury in acute care settings. To advance towards
these goals, Dr. Forgacs’ research will characterize specific circuit-level neurobiological mechanisms important
to recovery of consciousness in patients with severe anoxic brain injury after cardiac arrest. A K23 award will
enable him to carry out this research in the setting of a cohesive training program concentrating on specific
translational research aspects of neurological recovery of patients in acute care settings, neuroimaging in
clinical research and detailed training in analysis of complex multivariate data obtained during multi-modal
monitoring. These career development goals will be pursued via customized tutorial interactions with his
primary mentor, Dr. Nicholas Schiff and a mentoring team including Drs. Jan Claassen, Henning Voss and
Jonathan Victor. The central hypothesis of the current proposal is that a specific circuit, the anterior forebrain
mesocircuit (AFM) underlies the recovery of consciousness after cardiac arrest. The AFM consists of
widespread connections from the central thalamus to the frontal cortex and striatum, which is modified via
inputs from the basal ganglia, and has been linked to recovery of consciousness in patients with chronic
disorders of consciousness primarily as a result of a traumatic brain injury. Functional integrity of AFM related
to output from the central thalamus can be measured using EEG spectral analysis and 18FDG-PET. Dr.
Forgacs will test this hypothesis in two patient populations with limited evidence of conscious awareness, an
acute cohort (patients in the ICU after cardiac arrest), and a chronic cohort (patients who survived cardiac
arrest for longer than 6 months). Specific Aim 1 will involve the acute cohort of patients and will investigate
fronto-central spectral EEG features of AFM integrity in relation to bedside assessments of consciousness.
Specific Aim 2 will involve the chronic cohort of patients and in addition to EEG spectral analysis this aim will
also utilize 18FDG-PET and functional MRI or EEG-based assessments that are not feasible in the acute care
settings. This will allow further characterization of AFM using metabolic activity patterns of AFM and correlate it
with fronto-central EEG spectral features. Furthermore, fMRI/fEEG methods allow assessment of the possibility
of covert conscious awareness by demonstrating motor imagery responses to auditory command in patients
with limited bedside exam secondary to injury of the motor system. Studies in the chronic cohort will provide
detailed characterization of these patients and thus yield further insight into the role of AFM in mechanisms of
the recovery of consciousness after cardiac arrest. The outcomes of these aims are expected to provide a
detailed mechanistic model of recove...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9828103
- **Project number:** 5K23NS096222-04
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Peter Bertalan Forgacs
- **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $187,867
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2016-12-15 → 2020-01-27

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9828103

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9828103, Neurophysiological Studies of Recovery of Consciousness after Cardiac Arrest (5K23NS096222-04). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9828103. Licensed CC0.

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