Project Summary: A Data-driven Framework for Brain Transcriptomic Cell Type Definition, Ontology, and
Nomenclature
Defining the complete census of neuronal and non-neuronal cell types in the brain is a major priority for the NIH BRAIN
Initiative, since cellular complexity is a major barrier to under
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
A Community Framework for Data-driven Brain Transcriptomic Cell Type Definition, Ontology, and Nomenclature
Investigator
Michael Hawrylycz, Ed Lein, Christopher J Mungall, Helen Elizabeth Parkinson, Richard H Scheuermann
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Title
A Portable PET Insert System for Simultaneous TOF-PET and MR Brain Imaging
Investigator
Chenming Chang, Craig S Levin
Institute
petcoil, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Medical imaging technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography
(PET) have been widely used in studying the underlying mechanisms of mental illnesses and neurological
disorders such as brain tumors, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy, and depression,
Title
Accelerating Dissemination of Implantable Neurotechnology for Clinical Research
Investigator
David Allenson Borton, Timothy Denison, Philip Andrew Starr, Gregory A Worrell
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Summary
Invasive neurostimulation is an established technique in the therapy of movement disorders and epilepsy, and
shows promise for amelioration of psychiatric and cognitive disorders.
Title
Activity-dependent mechanisms for memory circuit maturation.
Investigator
Sarah Leinwand
Institute
university of california berkeley
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Adult behavior is the product of neural circuits that have been sculpted during development by
genetic programs and experience in the form of neural activity.
Title
Adaptive Neurostimulation to Restore Sleep in Parkinson's Disease: An Investigation of STN LFP Biomarkers In Sleep Dysregulation and Repair
Investigator
Aviva Abosch, Casey Harrison Halpern, Clete A Kushida, John A Thompson
Institute
university of nebraska medical center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder that leads to both motor and non-motor symptoms.
While there is as yet no cure for PD, medical and surgical therapies have been developed that effectively target
the motor symptoms of PD.
Title
An Ethical Approach to Detecting Covert Consciousness
Investigator
Michael J Young
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Alarming shortcomings of the bedside behavioral examination in reliably detecting consciousness generate
profound dilemmas for clinicians and families facing decisions about continuation of life-sustaining therapy, pain
control, prognostication, and resource allocation in patients wi
Title
Bidirectional Interactions of Cortex and Basal Ganglia During Action Selection
Investigator
Allison Elizabeth Girasole
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Selecting future actions based on previous experiences is key to an animal's survival. This process, known as
action selection, depends on the proper function of cortical and subcortical basal ganglia circuits.
Title
Biology and Biophysics of the Cortical Response to Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
Investigator
Angel V Peterchev, Marc A Sommer
Institute
duke university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) as a therapeutic intervention is FDA-cleared for treating
depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and migraine, and shows promise for a host of other brain disorders.
The appeal of TMS is its safety, non-invasiveness, and well-established capacit
Title
Biophysical modeling of the functional MRI signal through parametric variations in neuronal activation and blood vessel anatomy using realistic synthetic microvascular networks
Investigator
Grant Hartung
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The most widespread tool for measuring brain activity noninvasively in humans is functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI), which typically tracks changes in blood flow and oxygenation using the blood-oxygenation-level-
dependent (BOLD) signal.
Title
Characterizing the structure of motor cortex activity across multiple behaviors for improved brain-machine interfaces
Investigator
Karen Elizabeth Schroeder
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Abstract. Candidate and career goals: I am an engineer by training, with a strong background in
neural engineering and the development of motor brain-machine interfaces (BMIs). My career goal is to establish
an independent nonhuman primate (NHP) laboratory with two primary aims.
Title
Circuit and cellular mechanisms underlying hierarchical recruitment of motor neurons.
Investigator
Brandon J Mark
Institute
university of washington
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
A fundamentally important motor pattern for terrestrial animals is walking. Walking requires precise
control of large numbers of motor neurons.
Title
Cloud-based Software Framework to Simplify and Standardize Real-Time fMRI
Investigator
Jonathan D Cohen, Kenneth A Norman
Institute
princeton university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary: (30 lines of text max)
We propose to create an open-source cloud-based software system for real-time fMRI neurofeedback
experiments.
Title
Combined Topological and Machine Learning Tools for Neuroscience
Investigator
Michael Hawrylycz, Partha Pratim Mitra, Yusu Wang
Institute
cold spring harbor laboratory
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Two major recent advances have raised the possibility of fundamental breakthroughs in both
basic and clinical neuroscience: the development of new tools to probe the nervous system with
single-cell resolution as well as brain-wide scope, and breakthroughs in machine learning
methods for handling com
Title
Context-dependent neural processing of leg proprioception in Drosophila
Investigator
Sweta Agrawal
Institute
university of washington
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Proprioception is critical for effective motor control: dysfunctions of the proprioceptive system can impair
balance, motor coordination, and motor learning.
Title
Cortical-Basal Ganglia Speech Networks
Investigator
Robert Mark Richardson
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Actions are not mediated solely by cortical processes but rely on communication within basal ganglia-
thalamocortical loops. Speech is one example, although how the basal ganglia participate in this uniquely
human behavior is not clear, due to a lack of empirical data.
Title
Coupling between circadian rhythms and redox signaling in stem cell differentiation and adult neurogenesis
Investigator
Daniel Maxim Iascone
Institute
university of pennsylvania
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Circadian rhythms are necessary to coordinate the timing of key behavioral and physiological processes in
mammals [1-3].
Title
Critical Technology Development for 16 Tesla Head-only MRI Superconducting Persistent Magnets: V2
Investigator
Minfeng Xu
Institute
general electric global research ctr
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Advanced brain research demands ultra-high field MRI systems. The 11.7 T Neurospin CEA MRI magnet
pushed the use of superconducting NbTi materials to the limit by using superfluid helium to cool.
Title
Cross-frequency coupling: its role in brain function and dysfunction
Investigator
Andrei V Medvedev
Institute
georgetown university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
One of the high priority research areas listed in the BRAIN 2025 Report is a better understanding of the
brain network dynamics across time and space from human electrophysiological recordings.
Title
Data Exploration and Analysis Portal for Brain Research through Advanced Imaging Neuroscience
Investigator
Chun Chieh Fan, Wesley Kurt Thompson
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Population neuroscience requires investigation of brain-behavioral relationships within epidemiological
samples studied in longitudinal designs, including a large number of assessment modalities and with subjects
enrolled at many data collection sites to achieve a large sample and br
Title
DataJoint Pipelines for Neurophysiology
Investigator
Dimitri Yatsenko
Institute
vathes inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The field of neuroscience and the BRAIN Initiative in particular are amassing a wealth of informatics resources for managing, analyzing, and sharing data.