Project Summary

Christopher C. Pack, Ph.D. (Young Investigator 2008) of McGill University, will address symptoms of common mental disorders described in terms of an inability to distinguish self-generated from externally-generated sensory inputs, by relating behavioral observations on corollary discharge function to specific patterns of brain activity. Dr. Pack expects the results to reveal the detailed nature of the corollary discharge deficit that is hypothesized to be present in schizophrenia. Because the impairment correlates with the nature and severity of these symptoms, this is a good way to begin to understand mental disease at a mechanistic level. Dr. Pack’s long-term goal is to develop mathematical models that relate observations on brain activity to behavioral measurements, thus providing a crucial link from the well-known symptoms observed in schizophrenia to specific structures in the primate brain.

Program Area: SCHIZOPHRENIA/PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS\Schizophrenia

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