Dr. Ishita Basu (photo courtesy of University of Cincinnati College of Medicine)

K Scholar, Dr. Ishita Basu, assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery, was recently awarded a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) R21 for her project titled, “A Neural Population Model-Based Characterization and Modulation of Neural Oscillations Underlying Cognitive Control in Healthy and Depressed/Anxious Human Subjects".

Through this project, researchers will characterize brain oscillations that are disrupted in depressed/anxious human subjects compared to healthy counterparts while performing a cognitive task involving conflict resolution. Researchers will use a biophysically inspired neural population model of the prefrontal and temporal cortical network to determine feasible neural mechanisms underlying such brain signals. They will then use this model to determine cortical electrical stimulation to modulate pathological brain oscillations towards restoration of health, and test the model predictions on human subjects while performing the conflict resolution task.