To understand brain function in health and disease it is essential to rapidly monitor signaling in neural circuits. Two-photon microscopy is a core tool for neuroscience research because it enables neuronal activity to be monitored at high spatial resolution deep within brain tissue.
Funded Awards
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) BRAIN Initiative funds a wide-variety of research: toolmakers, trainees, individual labs testing new hypotheses, and large, team-based efforts aiming to catalyze neuroscience inquiry forward. Explore NIH BRAIN Initiative funded awards listed below. Click on the project title to learn more about it within NIH RePORTER.
To see more NIH-funded awards and associated publications, please visit the NIH RePORTER.
Title
Investigator(s)
Institution
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunity #
Project #
Title
Development and dissemination of high speed 3D acousto-optic lens two-photon microscopy for in vivo imaging
Investigator
David A Digregorio, Michael Hausser, Thomas Mrsic-Flogel, John O'keefe, Robin Angus Silver
Institute
university college london
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Title
Development and validation of empirical models of the neuronal population activity underlying non-invasive human brain measurements
Investigator
Orrin Devinsky, Rick M Dijkhuizen, Natalia Petridou, Nicolas Franciscus Ramsey, Jonathan A Winawer
Institute
university medical center utrecht
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary / Abstract
A major obstacle in the study of human brain function is that we currently have limited understanding of
how the measurements made by different instruments, such as fMRI and EEG, relate to one another and to the
underlying neuronal circuitry.
Title
Development of an integrated array for simultaneous optogenetic stimulation and electrical recording to study cortical circuit function in the non-human primate brain
Investigator
Alessandra Angelucci, Steven M Blair, Loren Rieth
Institute
university of utah
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Understanding the function of neural circuits in the cerebral cortex of the non-human primate (NHP), the
model system closest to human, is crucial to understanding normal cortical function and the circuit-level basis
of human brain disorders.
Title
Dexterous BMIs for tetraplegic humans utilizing somatosensory cortex stimulation
Investigator
Richard A Andersen
Institute
california institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project summary/abstract
Reach-to-grasp and hand manipulation will be studied in tetraplegic humans with neural recordings from
multielectrode arrays (MEAs) and intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) of somatosensory cortex.
Title
Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease Using Dynamic High-Order Brain Networks
Investigator
Dinggang Shen, Pew-Thian Yap
Institute
univ of north carolina chapel hill
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease Using Dynamic High-
Order Brain Networks
Abstract
Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia with no known disease-modifying treatment.
Current clinical diagnosis and monitoring of the disease are primarily based on subjective neuropsychological
and
Title
Dose Dependent Response of Cerebellar Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Investigator
Mark A Halko
Institute
beth israel deaconess medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an emerging technology for the treatment of neurological
and psychiatric illnesses.
Title
Dynamic Neural Mechanisms of Audiovisual Speech Perception
Investigator
Charles E Schroeder
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT – (Title: Dynamic Neural Mechanisms of Audiovisual Speech Perception)
Natural speech perception is multisensory; when conversing with someone that we can see, our brains
combine visual (V) information from face, postural and hand gestures with auditory (A) information from the
voice.
Title
ECT current amplitude and medial temporal lobe engagement
Investigator
Chris C Abbott
Institute
university of new mexico health scis ctr
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
1.
Title
EFFECTIVE CONNECTIVITY IN BRAIN NETWORKS: Discovering Latent Structure, Network Complexity and Recurrence.
Investigator
Stephen José Hanson
Institute
rutgers the state univ of nj newark
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Principal investigator/Program Director (Last, first, middle): Hanson, Stephen, José RFA-EB-15-006
Project Summary/Abstract
Since the earliest days of neuroscience research, core methods have focused on matching specific functions
to local brain structure and neural activity.
Title
Embedded Ensemble Encoding
Investigator
Srdjan D Antic, William W Lytton
Institute
suny downstate medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
We are developing a novel embedded-ensemble encoding (EEE) theory for mammalian neocortex to unify data from
cell and network experiments, and to infer general principles of how information is processed in the brain.
Title
Emergent dynamics from network connectivity: a minimal model
Investigator
Carina Curto
Institute
pennsylvania state university, the
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Even in the absence of changing sensory inputs, many networks in the brain exhibit emer-
gent dynamics: that is, they display patterns of neural activity that are shaped by the intrinsic
structure of the network, rather than modulated by an external input.
Title
Establishing a dose response for ultrasound neuromodulation
Investigator
Charles F Caskey, Li Min Chen
Institute
vanderbilt university medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Ultrasound (US) neuromodulation has received increased attention in recent years due to its unique ability to
non-invasively activate and inhibit neurons.
Title
Filtered Point Process Inference Framework for Modeling Neural Data
Investigator
Emery N Brown
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Neuronal spike-trains and various other signals in the central nervous system have a discrete,
impulsive nature that is well characterized with point process statistical models.
Title
Flexible neural probe arrays for large-scale cortical and subcortical recording
Investigator
Ellis Meng
Institute
university of southern california
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Implantable neural electrodes have enjoyed decades of development but the ability to record
resolvable neuronal activities is often reduced or completely lost over time.
Title
Foundations of MRI Corticography for mesoscale organization and neuronal circuitry
Investigator
David Alan Feinberg
Institute
university of california berkeley
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Functional MRI (fMRI) is performed at a macroscopic scale of 1 to 3 millimeters spatial resolution.
Title
Functional Architecture of Speech Motor Cortex
Investigator
Edward Chang
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Speaking is one of the most complex actions that we perform, yet nearly all of us learn do it effortlessly.
Title
Genetically Encoded Localization Modules for Targeting Activity Probes to Specific Subcellular Sites in Brain Neurons
Investigator
James S Trimmer
Institute
university of california at davis
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Developing enhanced methods for reporting and manipulating brain activity is a major focus of the BRAIN
Initiative. A major aspect of these efforts is aimed at developing genetically encoded probes for large-scale
sensing and/or manipulation of neural activity in vivo.
Title
Graph theoretical analysis of the effect of brain tumors on functional MRI networks
Investigator
Andrei I Holodny, Hernan Makse
Institute
city college of new york
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract:
The broad, long-term objective of this grant is to advance a graph theoretical framework to identify core-nodes
in a Brain Network of Networks to develop a software tool that will allow end-users from the broad
neuroscience community to identify and analyze the most influen
Title
High dynamic range multiphoton microscopy for large-scale imaging
Investigator
Ian Gordon Davison, Jerome Mertz
Institute
boston university (charles river campus)
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Multiphoton microscopy is one of the preferred techniques for high-resolution functional brain
imaging because of its remarkable depth penetration in thick tissue. In standard configurations,
such imaging involves scanning a femtosecond laser focus in 3D throughout a sample.
Title
High-density microfiber interfaces for deep brain optical recording and stimulation
Investigator
Timothy James Gardner
Institute
boston university (charles river campus)
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
This project seeks to develop a high density, minimally invasive optical microfiber array for long-term recording
and manipulation of brain activity.