PROJECT SUMMARY
While numerous transgenic tools and approaches exist to enable manipulation of gene expression in
many cell types in the healthy brain, tools designed to target and study cells present only in the dis-
eased or damaged brain are lacking.
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 #
TitleExploring the role of reactive astrocytes in brain inflammation using a novel combinatorial strategy
Investigator
Todd A Fiacco, Martin Miguel Riccomagno, Emma H Wilson
Institute
university of california riverside
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleFlexible active electrodes for frequency-multiplexed large-scale neural recording
Investigator
Matthew L Johnston, Ethan D Minot
Institute
oregon state university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
State-of-the art neural recording technologies for in vivo applications can record simultaneously from a few
hundred microelectrode recording sites. These recording sites are passive electrodes wired to read-out circuitry
outside the brain.
TitleFunctional implications of a patch/matrix-like compartmental organization in the mouse inferior colliculus
Investigator
Alexandria Marie Lesicko
Institute
university of pennsylvania
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
A major unresolved question in systems neuroscience is whether specialized anatomical structures support
specific functions in behavior. Therefore, this proposal will bridge the gap between anatomical circuit diagrams
and their predicted functional roles.
TitleGenerating a formal set of collaborative standards for sharing behavioral data and task designs to enable reproducibility in neuroscience
Investigator
Stephen Anthony Edwards, Adam Kepecs
Institute
cold spring harbor laboratory
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
The goal of this project is to develop an archival data format and a formal task specification
language to serve as standards for describing behavioral experiments.
TitleGenetically engineered anterograde monosynaptic viral tracers for multi-species neural circuit analysis
Investigator
Gregory D Horwitz, Rozanne M Sandri-Goldin, Bert L Semler, Xiangmin Xu
Institute
university of california-irvine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The development of trans-synaptic viral tracers is an important component of the BRAIN Initiative. At present,
the lack of viral-based anterograde monosynaptic tracing tools with high signal strength and low toxicity is a gap
in neuroscience.
TitleGenetically targeted high sensitivity voltage sensitive dyes
Investigator
Leslie M Loew
Institute
university of connecticut sch of med/dnt
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
A primary focus of the NIH BRAIN Initiative is to develop new technologies for large scale high
resolution imaging of brain activity. Imaging, as opposed to traditional electrode array based
measurements, promise much greater spatial resolution and specificity.
TitleHead-mounted miniature microscopes for combined calcium imaging and electrophysiological measurement of neural circuit function in deep brain regions of behaving macaques
Investigator
Jonathan J Nassi
Institute
inscopix, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
A consensus has emerged in the Neurosciences over the last decade regarding the critical importance of
understanding brain function at the level of neural circuits.
TitleHigh-density microgrid development for human neural interface devices
Investigator
Daniel R Cleary
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Brain-computer interfaces (BCI) offer hope to treat otherwise intractable neurological disease. However, the
current state of BCI is still short of the potential; solutions to fundamental biological and engineering problems
must be found before BCIs can be broadly used for patient care.
TitleHighly specific control of neurons with photoswitchable bioluminescent optogenetics.
Investigator
Nathan Christopher Shaner
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Here, we will generate photoswitchable and photoactivatable bioluminescent (PS-BL and PA-BL) light
sources. These constructs will be implemented to facilitate highly selective and “reprogrammable” modulation of
neural ensembles.
TitleImaging Brain Function with Biomechanics
Investigator
Samuel Patz, Ralph Sinkus
Institute
brigham and women's hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Methods that improve upon the temporal resolution of current fMRI techniques are urgently needed to better
understand the temporal characteristics of healthy brain function and to better identify the drivers of brain
dysfunction.
TitleImplantable Microarray Probe for Real-Time Glutamate and GABA Detection
Investigator
Nicolaie Andrei Moldovan
Institute
alcorix
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
There is an enormous need for the development of a new class of neurotransmitter (NT) sensors that are versatile,
selective, sensitive and reliable to allow investigation of the neurobiological mechanisms of behavior and disease symptoms.
This STTR proposal will focus on implementin
TitleImplantable Recording and Integrated Stimulation (IRIS) device for cortical experiments
Investigator
Andrew Wilder
Institute
ripple, llc
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
We propose to build a hermetically sealed implantable stimulation and recording system to enable
closed-loop experiments while mitigating the need for percutaneous leads.
TitleIn vivo Imaging of Neuroactivity in the Deep Forward Scattering Regime Using Speckle Identification and Demixing (SPID) Microscopy
Investigator
Sylvain Gigan, Alipasha Vaziri
Institute
rockefeller university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Optical imaging of neuronal activity in the mammalian brain at depth and at high spatial and temporal resolution
remains a key challenge in neuroscience.
TitleInput-specific imaging and manipulation of synaptic plasticity underlying social memory
Investigator
Mary L Phillips
Institute
max planck florida corporation
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary / Abstract
Ascertaining the neural basis of behavior has been a cornerstone goal since the conception of neurobiology.
While activity recording and loss-of-function studies have shed light on brain regions involved and necessary for
the expression of certain behaviors, they are unabl
TitleIntegrated Biophysical and Neural Model of Electrical Stimulation Effects
Investigator
Maksim V Bazhenov, Eric Halgren
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Abstract
Electrical stimulation is widely used to activate and/or disrupt neuronal activity.
TitleIntercellular TWEAK/Fn14 Cytokine Signaling in Sensory-Dependent Circuit Refinement
Investigator
Lucas M Cheadle
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
During postnatal brain development, newly assembled neural circuits are refined through the strengthening of a subset of synaptic connections and the concurrent elimination of others.
TitleInterneurons differentially regulate discrete pathways from ventral hippocampus
Investigator
Jennifer Donegan
Institute
university of texas hlth science center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Hippocampal microcircuits are comprised of excitatory pyramidal cells, which integrate information and innervate
downstream brain regions, and inhibitory interneurons, which function locally to regulate pyramidal cell activity
and synchronicity.
TitleInterrogating Biophysical Mechanisms of Magnetogenetic Cell Stimulation at Radio Frequencies
Investigator
Chunlei Liu
Institute
university of california berkeley
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Magnetogenetics is a recently proposed method for stimulating cells using electromagnetic fields. In one
approach, radio-frequency (RF) electromagnetic fields are applied to stimulate membrane channel proteins such
as TRPV1 and TRPV4 that are attached to ferritins.
TitleInvestigating the molecular, cellular and circuit effects of transcranial magnetic stimulation
Investigator
Arnaud Y Falchier, Alexander Opitz, Andreas Vlachos
Institute
university of minnesota
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) is a non-invasive brain stimulation method which can alter brain
activity in humans in a safe manner.
TitleInvestigating the response of CNS neurons to electric and magnetic stimulation
Investigator
Shelley Fried
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Our long-term goals are to better understand the response of neurons to artificial stimulation, and, to use this
knowledge to develop new and more effective strategies for stimulating non- or improperly-functioning neurons
of the CNS.