Project summary: Consolidating transient sensory experiences into long-lasting memories is a fundamental
function of the brain, linked to synaptic plasticity.
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
Thalamocortical and corticocortical mechanisms for sleep-dependent visual learning
Investigator
Sara J Aton
Institute
university of michigan at ann arbor
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Title
Thalamocortical state control of tactile sensing: Mechanisms, Models, and Behavior
Investigator
Garrett B. Stanley
Institute
georgia institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Thalamocortical state control of tactile sensing: Mechanisms, Models, and Behavior
Despite the fact that the sensory thalamus plays a major role in shaping sensory representations in cortex, and
thus shaping our percepts, most of what we know has been determined through electrophysiological
investig
Title
The Brainstorm Project: A Collaborative Approach to Facilitating the Neuroethics of Bioengineered Brain Modeling Research
Investigator
Insoo Hyun
Institute
case western reserve university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary – Abstract
Neuroscientists are getting close to building realistic bioengineered ex vivo human brain models
by: (1) introducing perfusable vascular networks to maintain tissue viability and promote 3D
brain model growth; (2) generating the full complement of currently missing cell ty
Title
The diversity of dopamine neurons: from connectivity and activity to functions.
Investigator
Naoshige Uchida
Institute
harvard university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Dopamine neurons (DNs) are key regulators of motivated behaviors, and defects in dopamine
signaling may underlie some psychiatric disorders including addiction, depression, and schizophrenia,
as well as neurological disorders such as Parkinson's.
Title
The Neuronal Underpinnings of Non-invasive Laminar fMRI
Investigator
Orrin Devinsky, Essa Yacoub
Institute
university of minnesota
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The six layers of cortex form distinct computational units that together govern the information flow and
processing required for complex behavior. Hence, unravelling the brain's computational strategies requires
understanding the layer-specific organization of the neocortex.
Title
Toward 3D human brain-like tissues for targeting dysregulated synapse and proteostasis mechanisms in autism spectrum disorder
Investigator
Joshua Dean Erndt-Marino
Institute
tufts university medford
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TOWARD 3D HUMAN BRAIN-LIKE TISSUES FOR TARGETING DYSREGULATED SYNAPSE AND
PROTEOSTASIS MECHANISMS IN AUTISM SPECTRUM DISORDER
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disease affecting nearly 1/50 children in US with an
estimated $268 billion in annual costs.
Title
Transparent 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.
Title
Ultra 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
Title
Understanding 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.
Title
Unraveling 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.
Title
Using 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
Title
Wireless 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.
Title
A 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
Title
A 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.
Title
Accessing the Neuronal Scale: Designing the Next Generation of Compact Ultra High Field MRI Technology for Order-of-Magnitude Sensitivity Increase in Non-Invasive Human Brain Mapping
Investigator
Brian Keith Rutt
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
A complete understanding of both normal brain function and neurological disorders / mental illness will
require the deciphering of the complex brain networks that underlie behavior and cognition, at both whole-brain
and microscopic scales.
Title
Achieving ethical integration in the development of novel neurotechnologies
Investigator
Winston Chiong
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
New technologies that modulate brain function have tremendous potential for alleviating the persistent burden
of depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders, but also raise challenging ethical and societal questions
regarding self-ownership and control over our thoughts,
Title
An academic industrial partnership for the development of high frame-rate transcranial super resolution ultrasound imaging
Investigator
Paul A Dayton, Gianmarco Pinton
Institute
univ of north carolina chapel hill
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Very recently, the revolutionary technology of contrast enhanced super-resolution ultrasound imaging has been
developed.
Title
Behavioral state modulation of sensorimotor processing in cerebellar microcircuits
Investigator
Shane A Heiney
Institute
baylor college of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Moment-to-moment fluctuations in behavioral and brain states have been shown to have profound effects on
perception and behavior in both humans and experimental animals.
Title
BIDS-Derivatives: A data standard for derived data and models in the BRAIN Initiative
Investigator
Russell A Poldrack
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
The effective sharing of data requires the development and broad adoption of standards for the
organization of data and metadata.
Title
Circuit mechanisms of evidence accumulation during decision-making
Investigator
Zhihao Luo
Institute
princeton university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Circuit mechanisms underlying evidence accumulation during decision-making
Behavior across many types of decision-making is well described by the gradual accumulation of evidence
toward one of multiple alternatives.