Aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the brain, the BRAIN initiative calls for “improvement of existing non-invasive neuromodulation” techniques.
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 #
TitleA tool-box to control and enhance tDCS spatial precision
Investigator
Marom Bikson
Institute
city college of new york
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleAdaptive DBS in Non-Motor Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Regulating Limbic Circuit Imbalance
Investigator
Wayne K Goodman
Institute
baylor college of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
In patients with intractable Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), ventral striatum (VS) deep brain stimulation
(DBS) effectively reduces symptom severity in about 60% of cases.
TitleAll-Optical Methods for Studying Sequential Motor Behaviors
Investigator
Todd F Roberts
Institute
ut southwestern medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
The execution of learned sequential motor behaviors, like those involved in playing a well learned tune
on the piano, are thought to be supported by precise sequences of neuronal activity in the brain.
TitleClosed loop deep brain stimulation for Parkinson's disease
Investigator
Philip Andrew Starr
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) has a major role in the management of movement disorders, and is under
investigation for the treatment of disorders of mood and memory.
TitleClosing the Loop on Tremor: A Responsive Deep Brain Stimulator for the Treatment of Essential Tremor
Investigator
Kelly D Foote, Aysegul Gunduz
Institute
university of florida
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Essential tremor (ET) is an incurable, degenerative brain disorder that results in increasingly debilitating tremor, and
afflicts an estimated 7 million people in the US (2.2% of the population). While the economic impact of ET is
indeterminate, it is surely quite substantial.
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 Modeling of Deep Brain Stimulation of the Ventral Striatum
Investigator
Darin D Dougherty, Alik S Widge
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
This project will transfer a computational modeling technology, "StimVision", from the McIntyre Lab at
Case Western Reserve University to the deep brain stimulation (DBS) group at Massachusetts General
Hospital (MGH).
TitleDeep cerebellar electrical stimulation for post-stroke motor recovery
Investigator
Kenneth B Baker, Andre Guelman Machado
Institute
cleveland clinic lerner com-cwru
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Stroke is a disease of epidemiological proportions in the industrialized world and a leading cause of long-term
disabilities. One third of stroke patients maintain long-term motor deficits severe enough to be disabling,
despite rehabilitative efforts.
TitleDeveloping a noninvasive method to manipulate specific cell types within the mammalian brain
Investigator
Sreekanth H. Chalasani
Institute
salk institute for biological studies
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Summary
A central challenge in neuroscience is to develop methods to manipulate specific cell types within the
mammalian brain. Recent developments in optogenetics have revolutionized our ability to control the activity of
both neurons and non-neuronal cells.
TitleDose Dependent Response of Cerebellar Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Investigator
Mark A Halko
Institute
beth israel deaconess medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an emerging technology for the treatment of neurological
and psychiatric illnesses.
TitleECT current amplitude and medial temporal lobe engagement
Investigator
Chris C Abbott
Institute
university of new mexico health scis ctr
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
1.
TitleEstablishing a dose response for ultrasound neuromodulation
Investigator
Charles F Caskey, Li Min Chen
Institute
vanderbilt university medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Ultrasound (US) neuromodulation has received increased attention in recent years due to its unique ability to
non-invasively activate and inhibit neurons.
TitleImaging adult-born neurons in action using head-mounted minimicroscopes
Investigator
Michael R Drew
Institute
university of texas at austin
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
The hippocampus is one of a select few brain regions that retain the ability to generate neurons in adulthood.
Research in human patients and animal models suggests that increases and decreases in neurogenesis alter
memory function and contribute to the etiology and treatmen
TitleImaging the Neural Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation
Investigator
Gottfried Schlaug
Institute
beth israel deaconess medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Research investigating the use of noninvasive electrical stimulation (e.g., transcranial direct current
stimulation (tDCS)), for neurologic and psychiatric disorders has provided compelling evidence that such
stimulation can modulate behavior and cognition, and even facilitate recovery of function a
TitleIn situ transcriptional analysis of brain circuits at single cell resolution
Investigator
Catherine Dulac, Aviv Regev, Xiaowei Zhuang
Institute
harvard university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
The mammalian brain is a highly diverse structure in which large numbers of cell types, grouped into broad
functional areas, serve defined functions according to their developmental origin, shape and connectivity,
transcriptional program and intrinsic biophysical properties.
TitleIntegrated multichannel system for transcranial magnetic stimulation and parallel magnetic resonance imaging
Investigator
Aapo Nummenmaa
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract:
During the past two decades, functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) has become ubiquitous in
studies of the human brain function. Similarly, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) has established its role
as one of the most widely used neuromodulation techniques.
TitleIntegrating flexible neural probes with a giant cranial window for combined electrophysiology and 2-photon calcium imaging of cortex-hippocampal interactions
Investigator
Peyman Golshani
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary:
Hippocampal sharp-wave ripples are 150-250 Hz oscillations during slow-wave sleep or immobility during which
large populations of hippocampal neurons sequentially replay activity patterns that occurred during exploration
of the environment.
TitleMapping and controlling gene expression in inhibitory interneurons mammals
Investigator
Gordon J Fishell
Institute
new york university school of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary:
Fundamental to furthering our understanding of the brain is the ability to longitudinally
track changes in gene expression over time in different contexts (e.g. development or
learning) (Aim 1) and to develop methods to target and manipulate specific neu
TitleMicro-TMS Technology for Ultra-Focal Brain Stimulation
Investigator
Giorgio Bonmassar
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Micro-magnetic stimulation (μMS) is an emerging technology with a great promise to revolutionize therapeutic
stimulation of human nervous system.
TitleMR-guided Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation of Deep Brain Structures
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. FUS is already used to deliver precise ablations deep in the
brain.