Abstract
The field of neuroscience is experiencing unprecedented growth in the ability to record from and manipulate
brain circuits in humans and in animal models. MEG/EEG are the leading methods to non-invasively record
human neural dynamics with millisecond temporal resolution.
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 #
TitleHuman Neocortical Neurosolver
Investigator
Matti Hamalainen, Michael L Hines, Stephanie Ruggiano Jones
Institute
brown university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleImaging adult-born neurons in action using head-mounted minimicroscopes
Investigator
Michael R Drew
Institute
university of texas at austin
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
The hippocampus is one of a select few brain regions that retain the ability to generate neurons in adulthood.
Research in human patients and animal models suggests that increases and decreases in neurogenesis alter
memory function and contribute to the etiology and treatmen
TitleImaging the Neural Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
Investigator
Gottfried Schlaug
Institute
beth israel deaconess medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Research investigating the use of noninvasive electrical stimulation (e.g., transcranial direct current
stimulation (tDCS)), for neurologic and psychiatric disorders has provided compelling evidence that such
stimulation can modulate behavior and cognition, and even facilitate recovery of function a
TitleImproving Human fMRI through Modeling and Imaging Microvascular Dynamics
Investigator
Jonathan Rizzo Polimeni
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
All fMRI signals have a vascular origin, and this has been believed to be a major limitation to precise
spatiotemporal localization of neuronal activation when using hemodynamic functional contrast such as BOLD.
However, significant recent discoveries made using powerful ult
TitleIn situ transcriptional analysis of brain circuits at single cell resolution
Investigator
Catherine Dulac, Aviv Regev, Xiaowei Zhuang
Institute
harvard university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
The mammalian brain is a highly diverse structure in which large numbers of cell types, grouped into broad
functional areas, serve defined functions according to their developmental origin, shape and connectivity,
transcriptional program and intrinsic biophysical properties.
TitleIntegrated fMRI Methods to Study Neurophysiology and Circuit Dynamics at Laminar and Columnar Level
Investigator
Wei Chen
Institute
university of minnesota
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Description
Functional MRI (fMRI) based on the blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) contrast has become a
powerful neuroimaging modality and has gained a prominent position in neuroscience for imaging brain
activation at working state and functional connectivity at rest.
TitleIntegrated multichannel system for transcranial magnetic stimulation and parallel magnetic resonance imaging
Investigator
Aapo Nummenmaa
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract:
During the past two decades, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has become ubiquitous in
studies of the human brain function. Similarly, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has established its role
as one of the most widely used neuromodulation techniques.
TitleIntegrating flexible neural probes with a giant cranial window for combined electrophysiology and 2-photon calcium imaging of cortex-hippocampal interactions
Investigator
Peyman Golshani
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary:
Hippocampal sharp-wave ripples are 150-250 Hz oscillations during slow-wave sleep or immobility during which
large populations of hippocampal neurons sequentially replay activity patterns that occurred during exploration
of the environment.
TitleInvasive Approach to Model Human Cortex-Basal Ganglia Action-Regulating Networks
Investigator
Nader Pouratian
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Action initiation and withholding are key parts of everyday behavior, and underlying these is action
suppression.
TitleLarge-scale Network Modeling for Brain Dynamics: Statistical Learning and Optimization
Investigator
Xi Luo
Institute
brown university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Summary
The human brain is a large, well-connected, and dynamic network.
TitleLarge-scale, simultaneous intracellular recording and stimulation of neural activity
Investigator
Michael London, Israel Nelken, Micha E. Spira
Institute
hebrew university of jerusalem
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
We propose to develop a revolutionary tool for simultaneous intracellular recording from hundreds of
single neurons in the freely-moving animal.
TitleLearning spatio-temporal statistics from the environment in recurrent networks
Investigator
Nicolas Brunel, Harel Zeev Shouval
Institute
university of texas hlth sci ctr houston
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary Abstract
Learning new tasks and exposure to new environments lead to changes in the dynamics of brain circuits, as
observed in various recent experiments.
TitleManifold-valued statistical models for longitudinal morphometic analysis in preclinical Alzheimer's disease (AD)
Investigator
Sterling C Johnson, Vikas Singh
Institute
university of wisconsin-madison
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The ability to quantitatively characterize incipient Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology in its preclinical stage is
a critical step for early interventions involving disease modifying therapy and for designing efficient clinical trials
to test therapy efficacy.
TitleMapping and controlling gene expression in inhibitory interneurons mammals
Investigator
Gordon J Fishell
Institute
new york university school of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary:
Fundamental to furthering our understanding of the brain is the ability to longitudinally
track changes in gene expression over time in different contexts (e.g. development or
learning) (Aim 1) and to develop methods to target and manipulate specific neu
TitleMicro-coil implants for cortical activation
Investigator
Shelley Fried
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The ability to reliably and chronically introduce electrical signals directly into the brain is crucial for a host of
efforts to create neural prostheses as well as for basic research to understand brain function.
TitleMicro-TMS Technology for Ultra-Focal Brain Stimulation
Investigator
Giorgio Bonmassar
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Micro-magnetic stimulation (μMS) is an emerging technology with a great promise to revolutionize therapeutic
stimulation of human nervous system.
TitleMicrodevice mediated functional brain imaging with high temporal and spatial resolution
Investigator
Eric C Wong
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Current electrode based approaches for recording of brain activity, as well as EEG and MEG, provide high
temporal resolution, but are limited to thousands of channels.
TitleMicroscopic foundation of multimodal human imaging
Investigator
Anders M Dale, Anna Devor
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The computational properties of the human brain arise from an intricate interplay between billions of neurons
connected in complex networks. However, our ability to study these networks in healthy human brain is limited
by the necessity to use noninvasive technologies.
TitleMolecular Functional Ultrasound for Non-Invasive Imaging and Image-Guided Recording and Modulation of Neural Activity
Investigator
Mikhail Shapiro
Institute
california institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Studying complex neurological function and disease requires imaging technologies that can provide a
comprehensive view of the mammalian brain with high spatiotemporal resolution.
TitleMOTES: Micro-scale Opto-electronically Transduced Electrode Sites
Investigator
Jesse Heymann Goldberg, Paul Mceuen, Alyosha Christopher Molnar
Institute
cornell university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Summary
Our goal in this project is to develop a new class of electrical recording device that complements and piggy-
backs on cutting edge imaging technologies.