Abstract

This is a request for an NIMH Scientist Development Award for Clinicians (K-20) entitled """"""""Developing Probes of Cortico-Striatal Circuitry."""""""" The candidate's interest is in the neuroscience of neuropsychiatric disorders involving the basal ganglia, particularly obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and Tourette's disorder (TS). Cortico-striatal circuits have been implicated in the pathophysiology of OCD and TS. Although converging data suggest that separate cortico-striatal circuits are arranged in a parallel, segregated fashion, and that different cortico-striatal circuits mediate the symptoms of the two disorders, the capacity to empirically test such hypotheses has been limited. The candidate proposes to devise and implement specific activation paradigms to probe discrete parallel cortico-striatal circuits individually, using positron emission tomography (PET) to study adult subjects. In addition to activation studies to determine the mediating neuroanatomy of TS and OCD, receptor characterization techniques will be employed to explore possible neurochemical abnormalities within the striatum. Such a multifaceted approach to the study of cortico-striatal circuits promises to yield important information about OCD, TS, and the physiological functions of cortico-striatal systems.

  Funding Agency

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
Type
Unknown (K20)
Project #
5K20MH001215-02
Application #
2240758
Study Section
Clinical Neuroscience Review Committee (CNR)
Project Start
1994-09-30
Project End
1999-08-31
Budget Start
1995-09-01
Budget End
1996-08-31
Support Year
2
Fiscal Year
1995
Total Cost
Indirect Cost

  Institution

Name
Massachusetts General Hospital
Department
Type
DUNS #
City
Boston
State
MA
Country
United States
Zip Code
02199