DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In this planning grant we propose several engineering developments to advance Magnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) to replace MRI as the next-generation functional brain imaging tool for human neuroscience.
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 #
TitleMagnetic Particle Imaging (MPI) for Functional Brain Imaging in Humans
Investigator
Steven M Conolly, Mark Griswold, Lawrence L Wald
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleMapping neuronal chloride microdomains
Investigator
Kevin J. Staley
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Dramatic new insights into the functioning of neural networks have been made possible by our ability to visualize neural function with calcium-sensitive fluorophores, and biology has been revolutionized by the ability to sequence and manipulate DNA, RNA, and
TitleMapping the Developing Human Neocortex by Massively Parallel Single Cell Analysis
Investigator
Arnold Kriegstein
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal seeks to create a single cell resolution map of the developing human neocortex.
TitleMechanisms of neural circuit dynamics in working memory
Investigator
William Bialek, Carlos D Brody, Hyunjune Sebastian Seung, David W Tank, Samuel Sheng-Hung Wang, Ilana Witten
Institute
princeton university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Working memory, the ability to temporarily hold multiple pieces of information for mental manipulation, is central to virtually all cognitive abiliies.
TitleModular High-Density Optoelectrodes for Local Circuit Analysis
Investigator
Gyorgy Buzsaki, Kensall David Wise, Euisik Yoon
Institute
university of michigan at ann arbor
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Significance: A number of scientific questions, especially in local circuit analysis, require manipulating neurons in vivo at multiple sites independently at high spatial and temporal resolutions by perturbing a controlled number and simultaneously recorded neurons.
TitleModular nanophotonic probes for dense neural recording at single-cell resolution
Investigator
Michael L Roukes, Athanassios Siapas, Kenneth L Shepard, Andreas Tolias
Institute
california institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Our understanding of the properties of individual neurons and their role in brain computations has advanced significantly during the last few decades.
TitleModular systems for measuring and manipulating brain activity
Investigator
Loren M Frank, Reid Harrison, Vanessa Tolosa
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The brain is a massively interconnected network of specialized circuits. Even primary sensory areas, once thought to support relatively simple, feed-forward processing, are now known to be parts of complex feedback circuits.
TitleMRI Corticography (MRCoG): Micro-scale Human Cortical Imaging
Investigator
David Alan Feinberg, Chunlei Liu, Pratik Mukherjee, Kawin Setsompop
Institute
university of california berkeley
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): MRI is the only technology that can image the connectivity of the human brain in vivo and non-invasively. However, neither BOLD fMRI nor diffusion-based fiber tracking has been able to break the barrier of 1-mm voxel spatial resolution.
TitleMulti-area two-photon microscopy for revealing long-distance communication between multiple local brain circuits
Investigator
Fritjof Helmchen
Institute
university of zurich
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Two-photon microscopy is a widely used, key method for functional imaging of cellular activity in living animals.
TitleNeural circuits in zebrafish: form, function and plasticity
Investigator
Constance L Cepko, Florian Engert, Jeff W Lichtman, Haim Sompolinsky
Institute
harvard university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose to combine whole brain 2-photon imaging of neural activity in behaving larval zebrafish with detailed anatomical and connectivity information extracted from the same animals.
TitleNeurotransmitter Absolute Concentration Determination with Diamond Electrode
Investigator
Kendall H. Lee, Felicia S. Manciu, Johnathan R Tomshine
Institute
mayo clinic rochester
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Determining the levels of neurotransmitters present in the living brain in real time is a matter of current scientific interest for research and clinicl reasons.
TitleNext generation high-throughput random access imaging, in vivo
Investigator
Elly Nedivi, Peter T. So
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this proposal is to develop new methods for high speed monitoring of sensory-driven synaptic activity across all inputs to single living neurons in the context of the intact cerebral cortex.
TitleNovel Genetic Strategy for Sparse Labeling and Manipulation of Mammalian Neurons
Investigator
Xiangdong William Yang
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Cajal revolutionized the study of the brain through the use of the Golgi stain to label cells sparsely and stochastically in a fashion that revealed a neuron's morphology in its entirety.
TitleNovel technologies for nontoxic transsynaptic tracing
Investigator
Ian R Wickersham
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Genetic tools have dramatically increased the power and resolution of neuroscientific experiments, allowing monitoring and perturbation of specific neuronal populations within the brain, often in the context of complex cognitive and behavioral paradigms.
TitleOptical control of synaptic transmission for in vivo analysis of brain circuits and behavior
Investigator
Ehud Isacoff, Richard H Kramer
Institute
university of california berkeley
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Optogenetics has revolutionized neuroscience by making it possible to use heterologously expressed light-gated ion channels and pumps to stimulate or inhibit action potential firing of genetically selected neurons in order to define ther roles in brain circ
TitleOptimization of 3-photon microscopy for Large Scale Recording in Mouse Brain
Investigator
Chris Xu
Institute
cornell university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this research program is to optimize three-photon fluorescence microscopy (3PM) for large scale, noninvasive, volumetric imaging of neuronal activity.
TitleOptogenetic mapping of synaptic activity and control of intracellular signaling
Investigator
David Kleinfeld, John Yu-Luen Lin
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal aims to develop new molecular techniques to map activities of neurons, manipulate the strength of communication between neurons and disrupt intracellular signaling.
TitlePath Toward MRI with Direct Sensitivity to Neuro-Electro-Magnetic Oscillations
Investigator
Allen W Song
Institute
duke university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): In response to the NIH RFA-MH-14-217 on "Planning for Next Generation Human Brain Imaging", we propose a comprehensive plan to organize the much needed technological resources and interdisciplinary research team for developing the next generation MRI technol
TitleProtein voltage sensors: kilohertz imaging of neural dynamics in behaving animals
Investigator
Michael Z. Lin, Mark J Schnitzer
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Attaining effective genetically encoded optical voltage-indicators has been a longstanding goal in neuroscience research and is a key near-term aim of the BRAIN Initiative.
TitleRemote regulation of neural activity
Investigator
Sarah Amy Stanley
Institute
rockefeller university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): A fundamental goal of neuroscience is to understand the function(s) of defined neural populations in a complex organism. We propose to develop and validate a technology for non- invasive modulation of neural activity in vivo.