# Targeting salience network dysfunction in depression with individualized brain network mapping and TMS

> **NIH NIH F32** · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · 2020 · $64,926

## Abstract

Abstract
 The goals of the proposed F32 Career Development Award are to provide the PI with a technical skillset and
knowledge of mood disorder psychopathology that will facilitate his developing into an independent investigator
using individualized neuroimaging and non-invasive brain stimulation technologies to 1) precisely understand
brain network dysfunction in mood disorders and 2) develop methods for enhancing engagement of potential
treatment targets in single patients. The PI has assembled a team of experts on mood disorders, human
neuroimaging, and non-invasive brain stimulation to help him complete the aims of this proposal and a training
plan that will provide experience essential to his long-term career goals. The proposed project will be conducted
at Weill Cornell Medicine (WCM) and leverage the intellectual environment at Brain Mind Research Institute
(BMRI) and access to the core facilities of WCM, including Sackler Institute and Citigroup Biomedical Imaging
Center.
 This proposal is focused on Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), one of the leading causes of disability
worldwide. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is a promising treatment for medication-resistant
MDD but its antidepressant mechanisms are incompletely understood, especially at the level of neural circuits
and large-scale brain networks, complicating efforts to enhance its treatment potential in single patients. The
central hypothesis of this proposal is that 10 Hz rTMS administered to a brain network implicated in valence
processing deficits in patients with MDD, termed the salience network, decreases circuit responsivity to aversive
stimuli. The PI will use state-of-the-art technologies for individualized functional brain network mapping and
measure engagement of the salience network using concurrent TMS-fMRI. The PI will also evaluate if rTMS
administered to the salience network rescues circuit dysfunction and valence processing deficits.
 The proposed training plan complements the research aims of this proposal with formal didactics, hands-on
workshops run by leading experts on non-invasive brain stimulation, research collaborations, that will provide
the PI with knowledge and skills in five areas: 1) mood disorder psychopathology; 2) new statistical and
computational methods; 3) new investigational tools; 4) mentorship; 5) scientific communication. Completing this
proposal will generate preliminary data necessary for pursuing a K funding mechanism and will set-the-stage for
developing neurobiologically informed, personalized rTMS interventions for mood disorders later in the PI’s
career.
!

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9993919
- **Project number:** 5F32MH120989-02
- **Recipient organization:** WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV
- **Principal Investigator:** Charles Joseph Lynch
- **Activity code:** F32 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $64,926
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-07-09 → 2022-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9993919

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9993919, Targeting salience network dysfunction in depression with individualized brain network mapping and TMS (5F32MH120989-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9993919. Licensed CC0.

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