Project Summary
Cell signaling pathways in the brain are an essential part of a complex system regulating the activity and
coordination of neuronal circuits. During learning and memory synaptic plasticity processes regulate the
strength of synaptic connections and modify neuronal circuits.
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
Multiplex in vivo imaging of cell-specific and circuit-specific signaling pathways during synaptic plasticity
Investigator
Richard L Huganir, Jin Zhang
Institute
johns hopkins university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Title
Neuromodulation by Transcranial Current Stimulation
Investigator
Bart Krekelberg
Institute
rutgers the state univ of nj newark
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
A novel technique called transcranial current stimulation (TCS) creates small
electrical fields in the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp.
Title
Next-gen Opto-GPCRs: spatiotemporal simulation of neuromodulator signaling
Investigator
Michael R Bruchas, Roger K Sunahara
Institute
washington university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract: The emerging field of optogenetics — using light to engage biological systems
— holds tremendous promise for dissection of neural circuits, cellular signaling and manipulating
neurophysiological systems in awake, behaving animals.
Title
Non-invasive neuromodulation mechanisms and dose/response metrics
Investigator
Desmond Oathes
Institute
university of pennsylvania
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary / Abstract
In an exciting era of growth in the use of non-invasive brain stimulation, new methods and applications are
being disseminated widely with an increasing number of FDA approvals and equipment designed to probe or
modulate the brain in fascinating new ways.
Title
Noninvasive Biomarkers to Advance Emerging DBS Electrode Technologies in Parkinson's Disease
Investigator
Harrison Carroll Walker
Institute
university of alabama at birmingham
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
It is easy to underestimate the importance of normal movement in daily life, until that ability is altered or taken
away by disease.
Title
Optimized dosing of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation for enhancement of hippocampal-cortical networks
Investigator
Joel L Voss
Institute
northwestern university at chicago
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Memory impairment occurs in a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions (e.g., depression and schizophrenia) and
in many neurologic disorders (e.g., neurodegenerative disease and brain injury), often with devastating
consequences for life quality.
Title
Optimizing peripheral stimulation parameters to modulate the sensorimotor cortex for post-stroke motor recovery
Investigator
Karunesh Ganguly
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States, with approximately 700,000 new cases per
year. Disability from upper limb impairment depends primarily on loss of hand function and finger
dexterity.
Title
Optogenetic signaling inhibitors for studying brain plasticity
Investigator
Wenbiao Gan, Ryohei Yasuda
Institute
max planck florida corporation
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Synaptic plasticity is thought to be a basis of learning and memory of the brain. Signaling
mechanisms underlying synaptic and behavioral plasticity have been extensively studied
with the aid of pharmacological and genetic manipulation of signaling.
Title
Quiet TMS: A Low-Acoustic-Noise Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation System
Investigator
Angel V Peterchev
Institute
duke university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
This project will develop a low-noise transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) system. TMS is a technique
for non-invasive brain stimulation using strong, brief magnetic pulses. TMS is widely used as a tool for probing
brain function and is an FDA approved treatment for depression.
Title
Rational Optimization of tACS for Targeting Thalamo-Cortical Oscillations
Investigator
Flavio Frohlich
Institute
univ of north carolina chapel hill
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY - UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA-CHAPEL HILL, FROHLICH
The alpha oscillation is a thalamo-cortical rhythm (8-12 Hz) that serves important functional roles in
cognition and behavior.
Title
Realization of Optical Cell-based Reporters for in vivo Detection of Neuropeptides
Investigator
David Kleinfeld, Paul A Slesinger
Institute
icahn school of medicine at mount sinai
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Neuropeptides are essential neuromodulators in the brain.
Title
Short Course in Adaptive Neurotechnologies
Investigator
Gerwin Schalk, Jonathan Rickel Wolpaw
Institute
wadsworth center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Neurological disorders affect many millions of people in the United States and throughout the world.
Title
Technologies for spatiotemporally precise & closed-loop control of selected neurons to prevent epileptic seizures
Investigator
Omar Jamil Ahmed
Institute
university of michigan at ann arbor
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY / ABSTRACT
Epilepsy is an often debilitating neurological condition affecting 3 million Americans and more than 50 million
people across the globe.
Title
Wearable Transcranial Focused Ultrasound System for Region-specific Functional Neuromodulation
Investigator
Seung-Schik Yoo
Institute
brigham and women's hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The main objective of the proposed research is to develop a wearable transcranial focused ultrasound
(tFUS) environment that reversibly modulates (either elicits or suppresses) region-specific neural
activities of the brain.
Title
A new strategy for cell-type specific gene disruption in flies and mice
Investigator
Thomas Robert Clandinin, Nirao Mahesh Shah
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Developing and validating a toolkit for cell type specific gene manipulation PIs: Clandinin and Shah Neurons express complex arrays of genes that play crucial roles in determining neuronal function.
Title
AN INDUCIBLE MOLECULAR MEMORY SYSTEM TO RECORD TRANSIENT STATES OF CNS CELLS
Investigator
Robi D Mitra
Institute
washington university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The brain is a remarkably complex organ comprised of hundreds of unique cell types that are organized to form sophisticated neural circuits.
Title
Anion channelrhodopsin-based viral tools to manipulate brain networks in behaving animals
Investigator
Valentin Dragoi, Roger Janz, John Lee Spudich
Institute
university of texas hlth sci ctr houston
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Examining neural circuits crucially relies on the ability to activate or silence individual circuit components to subsequently assess their impact on other parts of the circuit and their influence on behavior.
Title
Anterograde monosynaptic tracing
Investigator
Ian R Wickersham
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Monosynaptic tracing using rabies virus has become a standard component of the systems neuroscience toolkit, allowing identification and manipulation of neurons directly presynaptic to any targeted neuronal population in the brain.
Title
Berkeley Course on Mining and Modeling of Neuroscience Data
Investigator
Friedrich T Sommer
Institute
university of california berkeley
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This proposal is to administer and further develop a successfully established two-week summer training course titled "Mining and Modeling of Neuroscience Data" which is held at UC Berkeley.
Title
BRAIN Initiative: Integrated Multimodal Analysis of Cell and Circuit-Specific Processes in Hippocampal Function
Investigator
Jonathan V. Sweedler
Institute
university of illinois at urbana-champaign
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The BRAIN Initiative seeks to understand the spatial, temporal and chemical nature of the brain.