# Neural mechanisms of eye gaze perception in schizophrenia > **NIH NIH K23** · UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR · 2020 · $175,155 ## Abstract Project Summary/Abstract Functional impairment of schizophrenia (SZ) poses a tremendous burden on society and shows limited response to pharmacologic treatments. Previous work by the Candidate (Dr. Ivy Tso) and others suggest that early visual processing and eye gaze perception are two cognitive processes with important functional implications, but unanswered questions about the source of these deficits and dynamic interactions between these processes limit the usefulness of this knowledge to design effective treatment. This K23 Career Development Award proposal aims to advance research in this area through two broad goals: 1) To delineate a brain network model of gaze perception deficits in SZ using functional MRI and dynamic causal modeling (DCM); and 2) To provide a promising candidate with training in advanced fMRI network techniques and translational research skills to accelerate the translation of research findings to innovative cognitive interventions. The proposed project will study 40 SZ participants and 40 health controls, and probe gaze perception and visual integration using two psychophysics paradigms during fMRI. Behavioral performance and brain activation will be compared between SZ and HC, and the effect of SZ on directional connectivity between key brain regions recruited in gaze perception will be identified using DCM. The specific research aims are: 1) To characterize the brain activation profile of altered visual integration and gaze perception in SZ and its relationship to functional outcome; and 2) To characterize the brain network profile of gaze processing in SZ and identify abnormal effective connectivities underlying gaze perception deficits. This K23 research will help define a treatment target for a future intervention study. Dr. Tso is a clinical psychologist with demonstrated experience in publishing and obtaining funding in behavioral and electrophysiological research in eye gaze perception in SZ. She is committed to translating her research findings to innovative cognitive interventions. She will work closely with a team of experts who collectively provide mentorship in a multitude of training domains: Primary Mentor Stephan Taylor (fMRI, responsible conduct of research), Co- mentor Vaibhav Diwadkar (network analyses and DCM), and Consultants Scott Peltier (fMRI), Timothy Johnson (Bayesian biostatistics), Michael Green (social cognition and functional assessment), Sophia Vinogradov (cognitive training and intervention research), and Emily Mower Provost (human-centered computing). Training will be complemented and augmented by formal coursework, specialized short courses, workshops, scientific meetings, and other training activities as described in the Career Development Plan. Dr. Tso’s short-term career goal is to acquire a new skillset in fMRI network modeling and become an independent translational neuroimaging researcher. Her long-term career goal is to develop a comprehensive research and intervention program t... ## Key facts - **NIH application ID:** 9918764 - **Project number:** 5K23MH108823-05 - **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN AT ANN ARBOR - **Principal Investigator:** Ivy Fei Tso - **Activity code:** K23 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.) - **Funding institute:** NIH - **Fiscal year:** 2020 - **Award amount:** $175,155 - **Award type:** 5 - **Project period:** 2016-06-15 → 2021-05-31 ## Primary source NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9918764 ## Citation > US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9918764, Neural mechanisms of eye gaze perception in schizophrenia (5K23MH108823-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9918764. Licensed CC0. --- *[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*