# Corticospinal modulation of tactile information processing in the spinal cord dorsal horn

> **NIH NIH F31** · HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL · 2020 · $33,172

## Abstract

Project Summary
 Work by early anatomists identified long-range projections from somatosensory cortex that descend to
the spinal cord dorsal horn, and these projections have been hypothesized to exert top-down control over
somatosensory circuits. However, assessing the function of the somatosensory corticospinal neurons has
proved intractable due to a lack of tools necessary for dissection of spinal cord neural circuits.
 I propose to use modern molecular genetic tools in conjunction with electrophysiological and behavioral
analyses to assess the role of descending corticospinal inputs to the spinal cord dorsal horn. Leveraging
anatomical findings using molecular genetic and viral tracing techniques, I will assess how activation of
somatosensory corticospinal neurons influences dorsal horn processing of tactile information. To gain insights
into the components of corticospinal-recipient circuits, I will silence individual interneuron subtypes within the
dorsal horn and ask which subtypes are critical for cortical modulation of afferent input. In behaving animals, I
will manipulate the activity of somatosensory corticospinal neurons to ask how these neurons contribute to
tactile perception. Together, this work will reveal fundamental roles of descending corticospinal circuitry in the
control of tactile information processing, and thus their influence in perception of an animal's tactile
environment. Because normal tactile sensation is often disrupted in injury or disease, a better understanding of
top-down control may contribute to therapies for mechanical allodynia after peripheral nerve injury, as well as
for mechanosensory gating deficits exhibited in schizophrenia and some autism spectrum disorders (ASD).

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9828627
- **Project number:** 5F31NS101843-03
- **Recipient organization:** HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
- **Principal Investigator:** Mark W Springel
- **Activity code:** F31 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $33,172
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2017-12-01 → 2020-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9828627

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9828627, Corticospinal modulation of tactile information processing in the spinal cord dorsal horn (5F31NS101843-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9828627. Licensed CC0.

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