Project Summary
Based on the gate-control theory of pain, traditional spinal cord stimulation (SCS) to treat chronic back/leg pain
utilizes 40-60 Hz stimulation that activates spinal dorsal columns to elicit paresthesia over a patient’s painful
region.
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 #
TitleMechanism underlying Nerve Conduction Block by High Frequency (kHz) Biphasic Stimulation
Investigator
Changfeng Tai
Institute
university of pittsburgh at pittsburgh
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleMechanisms of Active Sensing in Drosophila
Investigator
Marie Suver
Institute
new york university school of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The goal of this project is to study the cellular basis of active sensation. A crucial function of all nervous systems is to distinguish between sensory stimuli originating from the external world and that generated by our own movements.
TitleMechanisms underlying large-scale coordination of cortical activity during perceptual decisions
Investigator
Lucas Pinto
Institute
princeton university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
It has become increasingly clear that both spontaneous and trained behaviors engage activity throughout the cortex. However, at least in the case of perceptual decisions, task complexity critically modulates the underlying large- and mesoscale cortical dynamics.
TitleMotion Sequencing for All: pipelining, distribution and training to enable broad adoption of a next-generation platform for behavioral and neurobehavioral analysis
Investigator
Sandeep R Datta
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Understanding the function of the nervous system requires a sophisticated understanding of its main
output, behavior.
TitleNeural signatures of learning complex environments in the amygdala-prefrontal network
Investigator
David Barack
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The ability to learn and think about complex situations is central to a range of human cognitive
functions, including navigation, reasoning, and decision making.
TitleNeuro-glio-vascular interactions in vivo probed with optical imaging
Investigator
Congwu Du, Yingtian Pan
Institute
state university new york stony brook
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
This application, "Neuro-glio-vascular interactions in vivo probed with optical imaging", will address the
broad challenge of the BRAIN Initiative (Innovative Neurotechnologies) and the targeted challenge
(tools to target, identify and characterize non-neuronal cells in the brain).
TitleNeuromodulation approaches for restoring dexterous control following cortical stroke.
Investigator
Preeya Khanna
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Stroke-causing illness, disability, and early death is set to double worldwide within the next 15 years.
Despite physical therapy, about 50% of stroke survivors have impaired hand function, which strongly impacts
activities of daily living and independence; novel treatment methods a
TitleNew approaches for single cell tagging, editing and profiling of glial cells in vivo
Investigator
Weizhe Hong
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Summary
The mammalian central nervous system supports a multitude of cognitive and behavioral functions through
coordinated action of different neural circuits that are composed of diverse sets of differentiated cell types,
including both neurons and non-neuronal cells.
TitleNext Generation Cell-Type-Specific Viral Vectors for Non-Neuronal Brain Cell Types
Investigator
Michael Eldon Greenberg
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary:
While traditionally conceived as passive support elements for neuronal networks, non-neuronal brain cells are
now appreciated as dynamic integral components of central nervous system (CNS) circuitry.
TitleNext-generation high-resolution diffusion MRI resolving cortical columns and layers in vivo
Investigator
Allen W Song, Trong-Kha Truong
Institute
duke university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
In response to the NIH RFA-EB-17-003 on “Proof of Concept Development of Early Stage Next Generation
Human Brain Imaging”, we propose a two-year plan to develop the much needed hardware and software
solutions for ultrahigh resolution diffusion MRI to delineate cortical columns and layers in
TitleNovel tools for spatiotemporal modulation of astrocytes in neuronal circuits
Investigator
Mriganka Sur
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Astrocytes are a major class of non-neuronal cells in the brain whose crosstalk with neurons at the synaptic
and circuit levels remains poorly understood.
TitlePediatric Deep Brain Stimulation: Neuroethics and Decision Making
Investigator
Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Gabriel Lazaro-Munoz, Eric A. Storch
Institute
baylor college of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) and adaptive DBS systems are currently used in children with dystonia,
epilepsy, and Tourette Syndrome, and its use is expanding to other neuropsychiatric conditions.
TitleProprioceptive Coding of Jaw Movement during Orofacial Behavior
Investigator
William Paul Olson
Institute
johns hopkins university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Integration of sensory information with motor commands allows movement to be adaptable. For example,
many survival-critical orofacial behaviors (chewing, drinking, breathing, etc.) involve updating movement
trajectories based on interaction with objects (e.g.
TitleRe-engineering Rabies Virus
Investigator
Ian R Wickersham
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Every part of the brain is composed of dense tangles of heavily-interconnected neurons of many different types,
each playing completely different roles in the circuitry.
TitleRelating functional MRI to neuronal activity: accounting for effects of microarchitecture
Investigator
Anna I Blazejewska
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The central goal of the BRAIN Initiative is to understand the structure and function of human brain circuits.
TitleResponsive Neurostimulation for Loss of Control Eating
Investigator
Casey Harrison Halpern, James D Lock, Robert C Malenka, Tara L Skarpaas (Crowder)
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Abstract
Background/Description.
TitleResponsive Neurostimulation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Investigator
Jean-Philippe Langevin
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) refractory to treatment is marked by failure of fear extinction and its
biological substrate, amygdala reactivity to trauma reminders13,14.
TitleRevealing the transcriptional and developmental mechanisms of interneuron identity
Investigator
Megan Crow
Institute
cold spring harbor laboratory
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Cortical GABAergic interneurons are critical components of neural circuitry, and their dysfunction has been
linked to neurodevelopmental diseases.
TitleScaling up spatial RNA profiling with compressed sensing
Investigator
Fei Chen, Yonina Eldar
Institute
broad institute, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Single cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) and Imaging Transcriptomics (IT) methods have put a systematic
understanding of the brain and brain diseases through comprehensive 3-dimensional map of its constituent
cell types within reach.
TitleSingle cell isoform expression across mouse brain regions and development
Investigator
Hagen Ulrich Tilgner
Institute
weill medical coll of cornell univ
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Single cell isoform expression across mouse brain regions and development
Much of the mouse brain's biology is defined by the action of long RNA and protein isoforms in distinct cell
types and brain regions.