Project Summary/Abstract
The prenatal period is a sensitive and critical time for brain development characterized by waves of neurogenesis,
neuronal migration, and formation of neural networks.
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
Gene regulatory networks influencing neuron-microglia interactions in fetal brain development.
Investigator
Claudia Z Han
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Title
Highly parallel long wavelength heterodyne diffuse correlation spectroscopy for brain functional imaging
Investigator
Stefan Alexandru Carp
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Non-invasive imaging of human brain function plays an important role in advancing neuroscience research and
understanding neurological diseases. This need has been met primarily by functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI).
Title
Hormonal regulation of sensory processing during parental care
Investigator
Kristina O. Smiley
Institute
university of massachusetts amherst
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
Does the way we hear sounds change when we become parents?
Title
Identifying prefrontal signatures of successful and dysfunctional attention
Investigator
Brielle Ferguson
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Attention is comprised of several component processes, including sustained attention, selective
attention, and attentional flexibility.
Title
Implementation and dissemination of cloud-based retrospective hemodynamic analysis tools to enhance HCP data interpretation
Investigator
Blaise Debonneval Frederick
Institute
mclean hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Summary
Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging data has been a mainstay of neuroscience research for more than two
decades, as it allows rapid, continuous, noninvasive monitoring of neuronal function.
Title
Improving the robustness of neuroimaging through exploitation of variability in processing pipelines
Investigator
Gregory Kiar, Michael Peter Milham
Institute
child mind institute, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Reproducible findings are essential to scientific advancement. Unfortunately, when fields lack consensus
standards for methods, or their implementations, reproducibility tends to be more of an ideal than a reality.
Title
Integrated functional and structural analysis of an entire column in mouse primary visual cortex
Investigator
Reza Abbasi Asl
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Neurons in the visual cortex form an intricate connectivity structure and topographic arrangement. The
structural and morphological organization of the neurons is known to constrain its functional properties.
Title
Integration of social and nonsocial information in the primate brain
Investigator
Joseph Simon
Institute
icahn school of medicine at mount sinai
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Primate species frequently use social information to inform their decisions, for instance, to help make inferences
about potential threats or rewards in the environment.
Title
Investigating descending control of walking
Investigator
Helen Horan Yang
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Circuits in the brain control motor output to generate the precise behaviors required for survival. Dysfunction of
these circuits results in devastating movement disorders such as Parkinson’s disease and amyotrophic lateral
sclerosis.
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
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.
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
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.