Project Summary
A fundamental end-goal of brain-computer interfaces (BCI) is to enable communication in individuals
with severe motor paralysis. BCIs decode the neural signals and accomplish the intended goal via an effector,
such as a computer cursor or a robotic limb.
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 #
TitleAuditory brain-computer interface for communication
Investigator
Daniel James Thengone
Institute
brown university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleAutonomously-activating bioluminescent reporters to enable continuous, real-time, non-invasive brain cell imaging
Investigator
Gary S Sayler
Institute
490 biotech, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Autonomously-activating bioluminescent reporters to enable continuous, real-time, non-
invasive brain cell imaging
Project Summary
This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project proposes to develop a set of genetically encoded,
self-exciting bioluminescent (autobioluminescent) optic
TitleBoss: A cloud-based data archive for electron microscopy and x-ray microtomography
Investigator
Brock A. Wester
Institute
johns hopkins university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Abstract
Due to recent technological advances, it is possible to image the high-resolution structure of brain volumes at
spatial extents that are much larger than was previously possible.
TitleBrain-wide correlation of single-cell firing properties to patterns of gene expression
Investigator
Adam Ezra Cohen
Institute
harvard university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Brain-wide correlation of single-cell firing properties to patterns of gene expression
Every neuron expresses thousands of proteins which, through their interactions with each other
and with other small molecules, imbue the neuron with its functional properties.
TitleBreaking Spatiotemporal Barriers of MR Imaging Technologies to Study Human Brain Function and Neuroenergetics
Investigator
Wei Chen, Xiao-Hong Zhu
Institute
university of minnesota
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Understanding how neural circuits operate and interconnect at mesoscopic (sub-millimeter) scale, and how
neuroenergetic metabolism and neurotransmitters support brain function at resting and working state is
essential to brain research and BRAIN Initiative. Magnetic
TitleC-PAC: A configurable, compute-optimized, cloud-enabled neuroimaging analysis software for reproducible translational and comparative
Investigator
Richard Cameron Craddock, Michael Peter Milham
Institute
child mind institute, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
The BRAIN Initiative is designed to leverage sophisticated neuromodulation, electrophysiological recording,
and macroscale neuroimaging techniques in human and non-human animal models in order to develop a
multilevel understanding of human brain function.
TitleCausally linking dendritic Ca2+ dynamics to CA1 circuit function and spatial learning using novel tools to precisely manipulate an endogenous Ca2+ buffering process
Investigator
Justin O'hare
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
In dendrites, Ca2+ is critical in determining how neurons respond to incoming excitation.
TitleCell atlas of mouse brain-spinal cord connectome
Investigator
Hong-Wei Dong, Huizhong Whit Tao, Li I Zhang
Institute
university of southern california
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Although great efforts have been dedicated to characterizing neuronal cell types in the brain, systematic
studies on the brain-spinal cord connectome and associated spinal neuronal types are lacking.
TitleCircuit and Synaptic Mechanisms of Visual Spatial Attention
Investigator
Bilal Haider
Institute
georgia institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Sensory processing is a way to understand neural circuits and their functions during behavior.
Behavioral context strongly affects sensory processing. For example, a brief visual stimulus is
easier to detect if it appears in a predictable spatial location.
TitleCircuit mechanisms for encoding naturalistic motion in the mammalian retina
Investigator
Wei Wei
Institute
university of chicago
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Motion detection, a fundamental computation of the visual system, begins in the retina. In the
mammalian retina, the direction of moving objects is computed by the direction-selective circuit.
The retinal output of this circuit is provided by direction-selective ganglion cells (DSGCs).
TitleCircuit mechanisms underlying learned changes in persistent neural activity
Investigator
Emre Aksay, Mark S Goldman, Hyunjune Sebastian Seung
Institute
weill medical coll of cornell univ
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Persistent neural activity, a sustained response following brief stimuli that is observed in many
brain networks, needs to be appropriately tuned to meet the exacting demands of various motor
and cognitive tasks.
TitleCircuitry underlying response summation in mouse and primate: Theory and experiment
Investigator
Nicolas Brunel, Kenneth D Miller, John H Reynolds
Institute
salk institute for biological studies
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Despite the enormous complexity of the brain, it is becoming increasingly apparent that structures like the
cerebral cortex are modular, relying on a set of canonical computations that occur across brain regions and
modalities to mediate perception, cognition and behavior. One im
TitleCollaborative Standards for Brain Microscopy
Investigator
Carol Marie Hamilton
Institute
research triangle institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Fast microscopy techniques, coupled with recent advances in tissue clearing, are now able to efficiently
produce cellular-resolution images of intact brain samples.
TitleCombined Cortical and Subcortical Recording and Stimulation as a Circuit-Oriented Treatment for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder
Investigator
Darin D Dougherty, Alik S Widge
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Abstract
This project is a pilot clinical trial of a new brain stimulation treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD
is a mental illness that affects 4-7 million people in the US. Of those, 50-70% still have substantial symptoms
after being treated with medication or talk therapy.
TitleComputational and Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Rapid Learning
Investigator
Elizabeth A Buffalo
Institute
university of washington
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The mammalian brain has a remarkable ability to store and retrieve information. Detailed memories can
be formed after as little as one exposure, and those memories can be retained for decades.
TitleConnectome 2.0: Developing the next generation human MRI scanner for bridging studies of the micro-, meso- and macro-connectome
Investigator
Peter J. Basser, Susie Yi Huang, Bruce R Rosen, Lawrence L Wald, Thomas Witzel
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
SUMMARY
We present Connectome 2.0, the next-generation human MRI scanner for imaging structural anatomy and
connectivity spanning the microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic scales.
TitleCortical Interactions Underlying Sensory Representations
Investigator
Jerry L Chen
Institute
boston university (charles river campus)
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Sensory perception involves processing incoming sensory input and interpreting that information through rules
generated from prior experience.
TitleCortical Signature and Modulation of Pain
Investigator
Zhigang He, Fan Wang
Institute
duke university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Cortical Signature and Modulation of Pain
Abstract/Project Summary
Pain perception contains two main dimensions: the sensory-discriminative and the affective-cognitive
aspects.
TitleCrowdsourcing the Fly Connectome
Investigator
Mala Murthy, Hyunjune Sebastian Seung
Institute
princeton university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
We propose to build a next generation crowdsourcing platform (code named “FlyWire”) for mapping the fly
connectome using transmission electron microscopy images that were acquired at Janelia Research Campus.
FlyWire will depart from EyeWire, a previous crowdsourcing platform, in two
TitleDART2.0: comprehensive cell type-specific behavioral neuropharmacology
Investigator
Michael R Tadross
Institute
duke university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT. DART2.0: comprehensive cell type-specific behavioral neuropharmacology
Neuro-active drugs have provided hope to millions.