# Development of Thalamocortical Circuits and Cognitive Function in Healthy Individuals and Youth At-Risk for Psychosis

> **NIH NIH R01** · VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER · 2020 · $392,508

## Abstract

Project Summary: Brain networks linking the cortex to thalamus are critical for cognitive, sensory, and motor
functioning. Dysruption of thalamocortical networks has been implicated in the pathophysiology of
neurodevelopmental disorders, including psychosis, and mechanisms of clinical phenotypes, especially
cognitive impairment. This view is supported by neuroimaging, including a series of studies by the Co-PIs,
which consistently find a combination of reduced thalamic connectivity with the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and
sensorimotor-thalamic hyper-connectivity in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. While significant progress has
been made, critical knowledge gaps remain with respect to the normal developmental trajectory of
thalamocortical networks and onset of connectivity disturbances in psychosis; relationship between cognitive
functions supported by thalamocortical circuits and thalamocortical connectivity biomarkers; and clinical utility
of imaging thalamocortical networks. The availability of several large-scale cross-sectional datasets containing
multi-modal neuroimaging data and extensive phenotypic data on healthy and at-risk individuals has created
an unprecedented opportunity to address these critical knowledge gaps. They include the Cambridge Center
for Ageing and Neuroscience (Cam-CAN: n=656, ages 18-88); Nathan Kline Institute-Rockland Sample (NKI-
RS: n=932, ages 6-85); Pediatric Imaging, Neurocognition, and Genetics dataset (PING: N=1239, ages 3-20);
Philadelphia Neurodevelopmental Cohort (PNC: n=1601, ages 8-21), which includes psychosis spectrum (PS)
youth; and the North American Prodromal Longitudinal Study (NAPLS: n=397). Building on our prior work in
clinical populations and leveraging the considerable resources of these datasets, we propose to chart the
development of thalamocortical networks in healthy subjects (Aim 1) and youth with PS symptoms (Aim 2),
characterize the associations between thalamocortical biomarkers and cognition (Aim 3), and investigate the
clinical utility of thalamocortical connectivity biomarkers at identifying atypical brain development in individual
subjects across the psychosis continuum and predicting conversion to psychosis in clinical high risk individuals
(Aim 4). The proposed Aims will: 1) establish critical normative lifespan development data for refining and
testing etiological models of not just psychosis, but other neurodevelopmental disorders, as well as aging-
related disorders; 2) inform the pathophysiology of psychotic disorders and contribute to dimensional models of
psychosis; 3) help define the neural basis of executive cognitive abilities thereby providing the necessary
foundation for mechanistic models of normal cognitive function and cognitive impairment in psychosis; and 4)
potentially provide risk biomarkers and intervention targets for youth at risk for developing a psychotic disorder.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9893033
- **Project number:** 5R01MH115000-03
- **Recipient organization:** VANDERBILT UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER
- **Principal Investigator:** ALAN ANTICEVIC
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $392,508
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2018-06-04 → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9893033

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9893033, Development of Thalamocortical Circuits and Cognitive Function in Healthy Individuals and Youth At-Risk for Psychosis (5R01MH115000-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9893033. Licensed CC0.

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