Project Summary
A key goal in neuroscience is determining how microcircuit structure predicts circuit function. An intriguing idea,
supported by some theoretical models, is that variation in microcircuit composition supports functional
specialization.
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
Investigating the microcircuit determinants of neural population activity through comparative analysis of latent dynamics across cortical areas in the mouse
Investigator
Audrey Sederberg
Institute
university of minnesota
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Title
Investigating the pathomechanisms underlying Charcot-Marie-Tooth Disease
Investigator
Julia Alexis Jones
Institute
scripps research institute, the
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT) disease is a genetically and clinically heterogeneous group of
inherited peripheral neuropathies that is characterized by damage to long motor and sensory
axons.
Title
Investigating the Role of Microglia in Methamphetamine Use Disorder
Investigator
Samara Jo Vilca
Institute
university of miami school of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Substance use disorder is a chronic relapsing disease that is characterized by repeated drug use despite
negative consequences.
Title
Long-term consequences of visual working memory
Investigator
Megan Teresa Debettencourt
Institute
university of chicago
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The ability to remember information, whether after short or long delays, is a fundamental human ability.
Title
Machine learning analyses of single-cell multi-modal data for understanding cell-type functional genomics and gene regulation
Investigator
Daifeng Wang
Institute
university of wisconsin-madison
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Understanding cell-type-specific gene functions, expression dynamics, and regulatory
mechanisms in complex brains is still challenging.
Title
Machine Learning Augmented Discovery of AAV Capsids for Cell Type Specific Access into Human Neurons and Glia
Investigator
Tomasz Nowakowski, David V Schaffer, Vikaas Singh Sohal
Institute
university of california berkeley
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The human brain contains an astonishing diversity of neuronal and glial cell types distributed across dozens of
functional areas.
Title
Mechanisms of Transplanted Cortical Interneuron Survival and Function
Investigator
Benjamin Rakela
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Cortical interneurons (cINs) are inhibitory cells that are born in surplus far from the cortex. During prenatal
timepoints, cIN precursors migrate into the mouse visual cortex (V1) where only a fraction are selected to
survive.
Title
Modulation of Cerebellar Activity by Electrical and Focused Ultrasound Stimulation
Investigator
Eric J Lang, Omer Oralkan, Mesut Sahin
Institute
new jersey institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The cerebellum has been overlooked for its potential for neuromodulation for decades.
Title
Molecular and circuit mechanisms of nausea-associated behaviors
Investigator
Chuchu Zhang
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project summary
Nausea is an unpleasant sensation of visceral malaise often accompanied by an involuntary urge to vomit.
Nausea responses to toxin ingestion and infection are evolutionarily beneficial survival behaviors that
avoid or expel toxins which may cause peripheral tissue damage.
Title
Molecular and sensory foundations of vestibular reflex circuit assembly in the larval zebrafish
Investigator
Dena Goldblatt
Institute
new york university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY: Behavioral dysfunction in neurodevelopmental diseases often arises from aberrant
neural circuit assembly. However, the developmental logic that dictates circuit organization, function, and
ultimately behavior remains unresolved due to the complexity of most circuits.
Title
Motor Recovery through Plasticity-Inducing Cortical Stimulation
Investigator
Steven C. Cramer, Jeffrey G Ojemann
Institute
university of washington
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Limited recovery of function after stroke remains a major problem for millions. Disability persists in
many, especially when hand function is limited. Existing therapies are limited and many have difficulties with
activities of daily living, even after rehabilitation.
Title
Multimodal dissociation of posterior cingulate cortex contributions to episodic memory
Investigator
Seth Ryan Koslov
Institute
university of pennsylvania
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Episodic memory is the ability to recall details about prior experiences. Researchers have historically relied on
controlled item-recognition paradigms, in complement to autobiographical recall tasks, to investigate the
biological substrates of episodic memory.
Title
Network based neuro-modulation for mesial temporal lobe epilepsy
Investigator
Behnaam Aazhang, Sandipan Pati Bankim Behari Pati, Nitin Tandon, Gregory A Worrell
Institute
university of texas hlth sci ctr houston
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Title
Neural circuit control of fluid and solute clearance during sleep
Investigator
Patrick James Drew, Hajime Hirase, Douglas H Kelley, Laura Diane Lewis, Maiken Nedergaard
Institute
university of rochester
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Program abstract: This proposal aims to identify the neural circuit mechanisms that control periarterial
cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pumping and glymphatic clearance of fluid and solutes.
Title
Neural mechanisms of behavioral coordination in Hydra
Investigator
Alison Hanson
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
How do animals coordinate their many parts to generate coherent, adaptive behavior?
Title
NEURODEVELOPMENTAL FUNCTION OF HCFC1
Investigator
Victoria L Castro
Institute
university of texas el paso
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Mutation of HCFC1 causes a multiple congenital anomaly syndrome characterized by inborn errors of cobalamin
metabolism, intractable epilepsy, intellectual disability, and motor dysfunction.
Title
Neurodevelopmental role of a tRNA methyltransferase underlying intellectual disability
Investigator
Kimberly Rose R. Madhwani
Institute
brown university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Gene regulation at multiple levels is critical for nervous system development and function.
Title
New Methodologies for Connectomics
Investigator
Xiaotang Lu
Institute
harvard university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT ABSTRACT
The nervous systems of animals are comprised of neurons connected by a large number of synapses.
The resulting neural networks underlie animal behavior and contribute to the storage of learned
information in many species.
Title
New strategies for molecular cell-type labeling in volume electron microscopy
Investigator
Linnaea E Ostroff
Institute
university of connecticut storrs
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Recent years have seen major breakthroughs in methodology for studying two complex yet
fundamental aspects of brain structure: synaptic connectivity patterns and the heterogeneous distribution of
molecules.
Title
Open-source miniaturized two-photon microscopes for large field-of-view and volumetric imaging
Investigator
Daniel Aharoni, Hugh T Blair, Anne Kathryn Churchland, Peyman Golshani, Alcino J. Silva, Alipasha Vaziri
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract:
Single-photon (1P) epifluorescence miniaturized microscopy coupled with genetically encoded calcium sensors
has allowed investigators to record the activity of large populations of identified neurons over days to weeks in
freely behaving animals, answering fundamental questions in neurosci