# Thalamic Contributions to the developing EEG

> **NIH NIH R01** · GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $348,906

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Despite over 65 years of electroencephalography (EEG) in newborn infants, our understanding of the rhythmic
cortical activity patterns associated with normal development and brain injury remains largely speculative. The
long term goal of the current project is to create a developmental activity atlas in which abberant EEG patterns
in the at-risk newborn are matched to specific disruptions in brain areas and neuronal types. A first step
towards this goal requires an un-anesthetized preclinical model with demonstrated homology to fetal and
neonatal human cortical activity in which cells can be genetically manipulated and the underlying effects on
cortical circuits rigorously probed. By measuring activity in vivo through the depth of cortex and corresponding
thalamic networks in developing neonatal rodents, we will provide insight into the circuit changes that may
underlie human fetal thalamo-cortical development to inform future studies of subcortical injury in infants and
non-human primates. By manipulating the activity of thalamic neurons we will assay the distinct contributions
of the thalamic relay and inhibitory neurons to the maturation of specific features of the EEG common to
developing humans and rodents. Given the challenges of imaging and diagnosis in the fragile at-risk newborn,
EEG has the potential to be a valuable and inexpensive bedside diagnostic tool. An improved understanding
of the control of cortical activity development will inform diagnosis after neonatal brain injury and improve
targeting of treatments for the cognitive and intellectual disability that often results.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9881372
- **Project number:** 5R01NS106244-02
- **Recipient organization:** GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Matthew Todd Colonnese
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $348,906
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-03-01 → 2024-01-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9881372

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9881372, Thalamic Contributions to the developing EEG (5R01NS106244-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9881372. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*