Opportunity Information: Apply for PAR 14 153
Apply for PAR 14 153
- The National Institutes of Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Temporal Dynamics of Neurophysiological Patterns as Potential Targets for Treating Cognitive Deficits in Brain Disorders (R01)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.242 Mental Health Research Grants 93.853 Extramural Research Programs in the Neurosciences and Neurological Disorders.
- This funding opportunity was created on Mar 14, 2014 and posted on Mar 14, 2014.
- Applicants must submit their applications by May 7, 2017. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Eligible applicants include: City or township governments For profit organizations other than small businesses Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized) Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification) Special district governments Independent school districts Private institutions of higher education State governments Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments) Public and State controlled institutions of higher education Small businesses County governments Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.
- Other Eligible Applicants include the following Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian Serving Institutions Asian American Native American Pacific Islander Serving Institutions (AANAPISISs) Eligible Agencies of the Federal Government Faith based or Community based Organizations Hispanic serving Institutions Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) Indian/Native American Tribal Governments (Other than Federally Recognized) Regional Organizations Tribally Controlled Colleges and Universities (TCCUs) U.S. Territory or Possession Non domestic (non U.S.) Entities (Foreign Institutions) are not eligible to apply. Non domestic (non U.S.) components of U.S. Organizations are not eligible to apply. Foreign components, as defined in the NIH Grants Policy Statement, are not allowed.
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Opportunity Summary:
The NIH grant opportunity PAR 14-153, titled "Temporal Dynamics of Neurophysiological Patterns as Potential Targets for Treating Cognitive Deficits in Brain Disorders (R01)," supports research aimed at improving cognition by directly targeting the timing-based patterns of brain activity that underlie cognitive function. The core premise is that many aspects of cognition are not just tied to where activity occurs in the brain, but to how neural activity is coordinated over time, including oscillatory rhythms (for example, theta, beta, gamma), cross-frequency coupling, spike timing relationships to ongoing rhythms, and population-level neural dynamics. Because these temporal patterns often appear disrupted in neuropsychiatric and neurological conditions that feature cognitive deficits, the funding announcement encourages projects that treat these electrophysiological patterns as actionable, mechanistic targets for developing or refining interventions.
A major emphasis of the program is on causal testing rather than purely observational studies. Applicants are encouraged to use experimental designs that include active manipulations during behavior, meaning that the project should not simply measure rhythms or correlate them with performance, but should change specific features of neural coordination and test whether those changes improve cognition. The overall goal is to move from association to mechanism: to identify which specific parameters of neural timing and coordination actually matter for attention, working memory, cognitive control, learning, decision-making, or other cognitive domains, and to determine whether correcting abnormal patterns can produce measurable cognitive gains.
The announcement highlights four complementary research directions, and applicants are encouraged to address at least one and ideally multiple areas. First, in behaving animals, studies can isolate and manipulate specific parameters of neural coordination to determine which ones drive improvements in particular cognitive operations. This could include experimentally adjusting oscillation frequency or phase relationships, altering synchronization between regions, manipulating cross-frequency coupling strength, or changing the alignment of spikes to network rhythms, and then assessing the impact on well-defined cognitive tasks. The key idea is to take complex neural coordination patterns and systematically test their components to identify the elements that are sufficient and necessary for cognitive enhancement.
Second, the initiative encourages work in animals or humans that links cellular or molecular abnormalities to disruptions in large-scale electrophysiological coordination during behavior. This line of work is aimed at explaining how known mechanistic problems at the receptor, synapse, or circuit microarchitecture level translate into altered oscillations or spike timing patterns and, in turn, cognitive impairment. The announcement gives receptor dysfunction as an example, but the broader intent is to connect molecular and cellular pathology to systems-level temporal dynamics in a way that helps identify tractable therapeutic points of intervention and clarifies why certain disorders show specific electrophysiological signatures.
Third, the program is interested in translational alignment between animal models and humans, including clinical populations. Specifically, it calls for research asking whether systems-level electrophysiological changes observed in vivo in behaving animals can predict analogous electrophysiological and cognitive improvements in healthy humans or in patients. This is essentially about building bridges that make preclinical findings more predictive and clinically relevant, using electrophysiological readouts as potential biomarkers of target engagement and cognitive benefit. Projects in this category might compare homologous signals and tasks across species, or test whether a manipulation that normalizes a circuit-level timing pattern in animals corresponds to improvements in related neural signatures and cognition in humans.
Fourth, the announcement explicitly invites systems-level computational modeling to build principled, mechanistic explanations of how temporal dynamic patterns emerge and operate across distributed brain networks. The focus is on understanding how oscillatory and other time-varying electrophysiological patterns unfold across cortical and subcortical structures to shape cognition. Modeling is positioned not as an abstract add-on, but as a tool to formalize hypotheses, explain multi-region coordination, identify control parameters that can be manipulated experimentally, and connect micro-level mechanisms to macro-level signals measured in vivo.
In practical terms, this is an R01 research grant mechanism, meaning it is intended for hypothesis-driven, multi-year research programs with substantial scope and rigor. The opportunity was posted March 14, 2014, with an original and final closing date of May 7, 2017, and it was archived June 7, 2017. No cost sharing or matching is required. The funding falls under NIH activity categories aligned with mental health research grants and extramural neuroscience and neurological disorders programs (CFDA 93.242 and 93.853), reflecting its cross-cutting relevance to both psychiatric and neurological conditions where cognition is impacted.
Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and governmental entities. Eligible applicants include public and private institutions of higher education, nonprofits (with or without 501(c)(3) status), small businesses, for-profit organizations (excluding small business constraints only in the sense that both for-profit and small businesses are listed as eligible), and a range of governmental bodies (state, county, city/township, special district). The announcement also notes eligibility for a variety of mission-driven and serving institutions, including HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, and AANAPISIs, as well as faith-based or community-based organizations and certain regional organizations. Importantly, non-U.S. entities are not eligible to apply, non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible, and foreign components are not allowed under NIH policy as referenced in the announcement.
Overall, PAR 14-153 is aimed at accelerating a shift in cognitive therapeutics toward circuit- and timing-based targets, with an expectation of mechanistic rigor, causal manipulation, and a clear path toward translational relevance. It prioritizes projects that can identify which features of neural temporal coordination are worth targeting, explain how biological abnormalities produce dysfunctional coordination, test whether correcting these dynamics improves cognition, and use computational models to unify and guide experimentation across brain regions and levels of analysis.
FAQs: NIH PAR 14-153 (R01) - Temporal Dynamics of Neurophysiological Patterns as Potential Targets for Treating Cognitive Deficits in Brain Disorders
What is PAR 14-153?
PAR 14-153 is an NIH funding opportunity announcement titled "Temporal Dynamics of Neurophysiological Patterns as Potential Targets for Treating Cognitive Deficits in Brain Disorders (R01)." It supports research focused on improving cognition by targeting the timing-based patterns of brain activity that underlie cognitive function.
What is the main scientific premise of this opportunity?
The core premise is that cognition depends not only on where neural activity occurs in the brain, but also on how activity is coordinated over time. This includes oscillatory rhythms (such as theta, beta, gamma), cross-frequency coupling, spike timing relationships to ongoing rhythms, and population-level neural dynamics. Because these temporal patterns are often disrupted in brain disorders with cognitive deficits, the program treats them as mechanistic and potentially actionable targets for intervention.
What kinds of cognitive problems or domains are relevant?
The opportunity is oriented toward cognitive deficits in brain disorders and highlights cognitive domains such as attention, working memory, cognitive control, learning, and decision-making, among other cognitive operations.
What types of brain activity patterns does the announcement emphasize?
The announcement emphasizes temporal dynamics and coordination patterns including oscillatory rhythms (for example, theta, beta, gamma), cross-frequency coupling, spike timing in relation to network rhythms, synchronization between brain regions, and population-level neural dynamics across circuits.
Is the program focused on observational studies or causal testing?
A major emphasis is on causal testing rather than purely observational or correlational work. Projects are encouraged to include active manipulations during behavior, where specific features of neural coordination are changed and the impact on cognition is tested.
What does "active manipulations during behavior" mean in this context?
It means the study design should go beyond measuring rhythms or correlating electrophysiological patterns with performance. Instead, applicants are encouraged to experimentally change specific parameters of neural timing and coordination while subjects (animals or humans) perform cognitive tasks, and then assess whether those changes produce cognitive improvement.
What is the overall goal of the funding announcement?
The overall goal is to move from association to mechanism: identify which parameters of neural timing and coordination actually matter for cognition and determine whether correcting abnormal temporal patterns can produce measurable cognitive gains.
What research directions are highlighted in PAR 14-153?
The announcement describes four complementary research directions and encourages applicants to address at least one (and ideally multiple): (1) causal manipulation of neural coordination parameters in behaving animals; (2) linking cellular/molecular abnormalities to large-scale electrophysiological disruptions during behavior in animals or humans; (3) translational alignment between animal models and humans (including clinical populations) using electrophysiological readouts; and (4) systems-level computational modeling to explain how temporal dynamic patterns emerge and shape cognition across brain networks.
What does the first highlighted direction (behaving animals) focus on?
It focuses on isolating and manipulating specific parameters of neural coordination in behaving animals to determine which components are sufficient and necessary for improving particular cognitive operations. Examples include adjusting oscillation frequency or phase relationships, altering synchronization between regions, manipulating cross-frequency coupling strength, or changing spike alignment to network rhythms, then measuring effects on well-defined cognitive tasks.
What does the second highlighted direction (cellular/molecular to systems dynamics) focus on?
It supports research in animals or humans that connects cellular or molecular abnormalities (for example, receptor dysfunction) to disruptions in large-scale electrophysiological coordination during behavior, and then links those disruptions to cognitive impairment. The intent is to explain how micro-level pathology translates into systems-level temporal signatures and to identify tractable intervention points.
What does the third highlighted direction (translational alignment) focus on?
It focuses on bridging animal models and humans by asking whether systems-level electrophysiological changes observed in behaving animals can predict analogous electrophysiological and cognitive improvements in healthy humans or patients. This includes using electrophysiological readouts as potential biomarkers of target engagement and cognitive benefit, and aligning signals and tasks across species.
What does the fourth highlighted direction (computational modeling) focus on?
It explicitly invites systems-level computational modeling aimed at building mechanistic explanations of how temporal dynamic patterns emerge and operate across distributed brain networks. Modeling is positioned as a way to formalize hypotheses, explain multi-region coordination, identify control parameters for experimental manipulation, and connect micro-level mechanisms to macro-level signals measured in vivo.
Are projects expected to include computational modeling?
Computational modeling is one of the four encouraged directions. The announcement explicitly invites it, but applicants are encouraged to address at least one direction and ideally multiple. Modeling is framed as a tool to unify and guide experimentation rather than an optional, purely abstract component.
Does the opportunity support research in animals, humans, or both?
Both. The described directions include studies in behaving animals, studies in animals or humans linking molecular/cellular issues to systems-level dynamics, translational work aligning animal findings with healthy humans or clinical populations, and modeling that can connect across levels and species.
What kind of grant mechanism is PAR 14-153?
It uses the NIH R01 research project grant mechanism, intended for hypothesis-driven, multi-year research programs with substantial scope and rigor.
When was this funding opportunity posted and when did it close?
The opportunity was posted on March 14, 2014. The original and final closing date was May 7, 2017. It was archived on June 7, 2017.
Is this funding opportunity currently open?
No. Based on the provided details, it closed on May 7, 2017 and was archived on June 7, 2017.
Is cost sharing or matching required?
No cost sharing or matching is required.
Which NIH activity categories or program areas are associated with this opportunity?
The funding is aligned with NIH activity categories associated with mental health research grants and extramural neuroscience and neurological disorders programs. CFDA numbers listed are 93.242 and 93.853, reflecting relevance to both psychiatric and neurological conditions involving cognitive impairment.
Who is eligible to apply?
Eligibility is broad across U.S.-based organizations and governmental entities. Eligible applicants include public and private institutions of higher education; nonprofit organizations (with or without 501(c)(3) status); small businesses; for-profit organizations; and governmental bodies such as state, county, city/township, and special district governments. The announcement also notes eligibility for various mission-driven or serving institutions (including HBCUs, Hispanic-serving institutions, tribally controlled colleges and universities, Alaska Native and Native Hawaiian serving institutions, and AANAPISIs), as well as faith-based or community-based organizations and certain regional organizations.
Are non-U.S. (foreign) organizations eligible to apply?
No. Non-U.S. entities are not eligible to apply under this announcement.
Are foreign components allowed (for example, a foreign site or foreign collaborator component within a U.S. application)?
No. The announcement states that non-U.S. components of U.S. organizations are not eligible and that foreign components are not allowed under NIH policy as referenced in the announcement.
What does the program mean by treating electrophysiological patterns as "targets"?
It means treating disrupted temporal coordination patterns (such as abnormal rhythms, coupling, spike timing, or inter-regional synchronization) as mechanistic intervention points. The expectation is that projects will identify which features of temporal coordination are worth targeting and test whether correcting them can improve cognition.
What is meant by moving from "association" to "mechanism" in this FOA?
It refers to shifting from simply observing that certain neural rhythms or timing patterns correlate with cognitive performance, toward experimentally demonstrating which specific parameters of temporal coordination cause cognitive changes and whether normalizing abnormal dynamics produces measurable cognitive gains.
Does the announcement encourage work that connects micro-level biology to macro-level signals?
Yes. One of the explicitly highlighted directions is linking cellular or molecular abnormalities (such as receptor-level dysfunction) to disruptions in large-scale electrophysiological coordination during behavior, with the aim of explaining how micro-level pathology yields systems-level temporal signatures and cognitive deficits.
Does the announcement support biomarker-oriented translational work?
Yes. The translational alignment direction emphasizes using electrophysiological readouts to bridge animal models and humans, including clinical populations, and frames these readouts as potential biomarkers of target engagement and cognitive benefit.
Does the announcement require addressing all four highlighted research directions?
No. Applicants are encouraged to address at least one, and ideally multiple, of the four complementary directions described.
What is the therapeutic or intervention-oriented emphasis in this opportunity?
The therapeutic emphasis is on accelerating a shift toward circuit- and timing-based targets for cognitive therapeutics. The announcement prioritizes mechanistic rigor, causal manipulation, and a clear path to translational relevance, including testing whether correcting dysfunctional temporal dynamics improves cognition.
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