Project Summary
A detailed understanding of the anatomical and molecular architectures of brain cells and their brain-wide
organization is essential for interrogating human brain function and dysfunction.
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 #
TitleTowards integrated 3D reconstruction of whole human brains at subcellular resolution
Investigator
Kwanghun Chung
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleTRACT: A TOOL TO INVESTIGATE BRAIN CONNECTIVITY AND TO GENETICALLY MANIPULATE NEURONS CONNECTED BY SYNAPSES
Investigator
Elizabeth Jennifer Hong, Carlos Lois
Institute
california institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
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PROJECT SUMMARY
Deciphering the brain’s wiring diagram is widely thought to be necessary towards understanding how brain
circuits process information. However, this goal is extremely challenging because currently available methods
to study brain connectivity suffer from important limitations.
TitleTrans-synaptic bidirectional tracing tools for imaging and omics analysis
Investigator
Nirao Mahesh Shah, Alice Y Ting
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Trans‐synaptic bidirectional tracing tools for imaging and omics analysis
A central question in systems neuroscience is how hormones, such as estrogen, regulate animal behavior at the level of
synapses and circuits.
TitleTransparent graphene electrode arrays for simultaneous electrical and optical investigation of computations in the olfactory bulb
Investigator
Morgan A Brown
Institute
university of oregon
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary and Abstract
A major obstacle to understanding the link between behavior and neuronal activity is the difficulty of
electrophysiologically recording the activity of large neuronal populations without limiting visual access.
TitleUltra High Resolution Brain PET Scanner for in-vivo Autoradiography Imaging
Investigator
Georges El Fakhri, Roger Lecomte
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
We propose to design, build, and evaluate the Scanner Approaching in Vivo
Autoradiographic Neuro Tomography (SAVANT), a next generation PET scanner for
ultra-high resolution imaging of the human brain using hardware advances
developed by members of our collaborative team to achieve unprecedented spa
TitleUltrasonic neuromodulation: establishing mechanisms and parameters to optimize targeted neuromodulation and control sensory side-effects
Investigator
Michael Ortiz, Shinsuke Shimojo, Mikhail Shapiro
Institute
california institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Abstract
One of the major goals of the BRAIN initiative is to develop technologies capable of interfacing with specific
neural circuits in the human brain.
TitleUnderstanding V1 circuit dynamics and computations
Investigator
Kenneth D Miller, Massimo Scanziani
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Understanding the cerebral cortex requires data-based theoretical models that can yield in-
sight into the circuit mechanisms of cortical computation, and reproduce detailed cortical dynamics across stimuli
and brain states.
TitleUnraveling constraints on motor cortical activity exploration and shaping during structural skill learning using large-scale 2-photon imaging and holographic optogenetic stimulation
Investigator
Vivek Athalye
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
When learning new skills, experience with previously-learned skills can facilitate faster learning by constraining
behavioral exploration and shaping, a concept known as “structural learning”3,4.
TitleUsing functionally-defined glomeruli to probe circuit function in the mammalian olfactory bulb
Investigator
Dale M Wachowiak
Institute
university of utah
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
We seek to better understand how the brain processes olfactory information by focusing on how circuits
of the olfactory bulb control two fundamental aspects of sensory processing: the relationship between sensory
input and olfactory bulb output as a function of stimulus intensity, a
TitleWhat are we Stimulating with Transcranial Ultrasound in Mice?
Investigator
Kim Butts-Pauly
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Abstract
Completely noninvasive neuromodulation using focused ultrasound (FUS) offers the promise of precisely
stimulating specific targets deep in the brain, at power levels commonly used for diagnostic imaging studies.
Having a working mouse model to study neuromodulation with ultrasound i
TitleWireless High-Density Diffuse Optical Tomography for Decoding Brain Activity
Investigator
Joseph P Culver
Institute
washington university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
This grant will develop a wireless wearable high-performance, high-density diffuse optical tomography (DOT)
instrument for mapping of brain function in naturalistic settings.
TitleA Brain Circuit Program for Understanding the Sensorimotor Basis of Behavior
Investigator
Thomas Robert Clandinin, Michael H Dickinson, Shaul Druckmann, Richard S Mann, Richard M Murray, John Tuthill, Rachel Wilson
Institute
california institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
A Brain Circuit Program for Understanding the Sensorimotor Basis of Behavior
Abstract
The Project team's long-term goal is to develop a comprehensive theory of animal behavior that explicitly
incorporates neural processes operating across hierarchical levels — from circuits that regulate the action
TitleA BRAIN Initiative Resource: The Neuroscience Multi-omic Data Archive
Investigator
Owen R White
Institute
university of maryland baltimore
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative
promotes the development and application of technologies to describe the temporal and spatial
dynamics of cell types and neural circuits in the brain.
TitleA Cellular Resolution Census of the Developing Human Brain
Investigator
Eric J Huang, Arnold Kriegstein
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
We aim to create a spatiotemporal single cell resolution map of the developing human neocortex in order to
establish how many distinct cell types are present and to unravel their complex developmental history.
TitleA Community Resource for Single Cell Data in the Brain
Investigator
James C Gee, Michael Hawrylycz, Maryann E Martone, Lydia Lup-Ming Ng, Anthony Philippakis
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
A detailed census of the structure and role of cell type specific data in the brain is recognized as one of the most
promising avenues for advancing our understanding of the human brain in health and disease.
TitleA Confocal Fluorescence Microscopy Brain Data Archive
Investigator
Marcel P Bruchez, Alexander J Ropelewski, Simon C Watkins
Institute
carnegie-mellon university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Advancements in the field of microscopy and imaging have pushed the boundaries of what
was once thought possible in many fields of research.
TitleA General Approach for the Development of New Cell-Type-Specific Viral Vectors
Investigator
Michael Eldon Greenberg
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary:
Our limited ability to genetically access specific cell types within the nervous system constitutes a fundamental
impediment in our efforts to probe brain function and intervene therapeutically, particularly in species lacking
the well-developed genetic resources available in the mo
TitleA magnetic particle imager (MPI) for functional brain imaging in humans
Investigator
Lawrence L Wald
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
In this U01 grant we propose a 5 year engineering development effort to advance Magnetic
Particle Imaging (MPI) to replace MRI as the next-generation functional brain imaging tool for human
neuroscience.
TitleA Molecular and Cellular Atlas of the Marmoset Brain
Investigator
Guoping Feng
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The complexity of the mammalian brain is unparalleled by any other organ, and understanding its
cellular composition is essential to understand how it gives rise to cognition and behavior.
TitleA multimodal atlas of human brain cell types
Investigator
Ed Lein
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract:
A Multimodal Atlas of Human Brain Cell Types
Cell types are the building blocks of the brain, including the neuron types forming specific neuronal
circuits responsible for perception, cognition and action, and the non-neuronal elements performing other
essential roles for proper brain fun