PROJECT SUMMARY
Significance: Neural circuit assembly requires activity-dependent refinement of circuit architecture (e.g.
plasticity) to produce stereotyped behavior.
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 #
TitleThe role of astrocyte-neuron signaling in closing a critical period required for motor circuit structure, function, and behavior
Investigator
Sarah D Ackerman
Institute
university of oregon
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleThin, High-Density, High-Performance, Depth and Surface Microelectrodes for Diagnosis and Treatment of Epilepsy
Investigator
Shadi Dayeh
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
The goal of this project is to significantly advance the field of acute and semichronic epilepsy monitoring
using novel, high-resolution electrocorticography (ECoG) record/stimulate grids (4096/256 channels,
respectively) and stereoelectroencephalography (sEEG) depth electrodes (120/8 micr
TitleToward functional molecular neuroimaging using vasoactive probes in human subjects
Investigator
Alan Jasanoff
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
We propose to develop a probe technology for monitoring human brain function with molecular precision;
in conjunction with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or other imaging modalities, the probes will provide a
combination of sensitivity and resolution that could permit unprecedented noninvasive stu
TitleUltra High-density Optomechanic Neural Interfaces
Investigator
Maysamreza Chamanzar, Gianluca Piazza
Institute
carnegie-mellon university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
A multi-scale, mechanistic understanding of neural circuits that includes both local- and whole-brain
interconnections still remains elusive.
TitleUltrasonic Genetically Encoded Calcium Indicators for Whole-Brain Neuroimaging
Investigator
Mikhail Shapiro
Institute
california institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
SUMMARY
A major goal of the BRAIN initiative is to develop neural imaging technologies enabling whole-brain imaging of
specific molecular signals such as neuronal calcium.
TitleUnderstanding the regulation of neuron cell number and arbor size
Investigator
Jennifer A Malin
Institute
new york university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
How the brain generates the correct number of neurons and how these neurons determine the size of their
arbors to innervate the receptor field is a critical question in neurobiology.
TitleUse of advanced analytics to understand brain-behavior screen media activity relationships in ABCD data
Investigator
Marc N Potenza, Yihong Zhao
Institute
yale university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Growing up in a media-saturated world, the current generation of children and adolescents spend on average 6-
9 hours each day on screen media activities (SMAs). Therefore, SMA is a topic of considerable concern in the
USA and elsewhere.
TitleUsing large scale electrophysiology to study the role of midbrain dopamine neurons underlying motivated behaviors
Investigator
Kurt M Fraser
Institute
university of california berkeley
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
A core feature of a number of psychiatric illnesses is the disordered estimation of the predictive relationship
between a given cue and an outcome. This failure to appraise and generate appropriate behavioral responses
is true for cues that both are rewarding and aversive.
TitleWaking up the nervous system: Molecular characterization of neuronal leader cells and their role in brain development
Investigator
Nicole Ann Aponte-Santiago
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Learning how spontaneous neuronal activity shapes embryonic brain development is critical for understanding
neurodevelopmental processes, with implications in neurological or neuropsychiatric disorders.
Title4D Transcranial Acoustoelectric Imaging for High Resolution Functional Mapping of Neuronal Currents
Investigator
Russell S Witte
Institute
university of arizona
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
The overarching goal of this project is to optimize, validate and implement a revolutionary and safe modality
for noninvasive functional imaging of neural currents deep in the human brain through the skull at
unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution.
TitleA 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
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
TitleA 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,
TitleAccelerating 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.
TitleActivity-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.
TitleAdaptive 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.
TitleAn 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
TitleBidirectional 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.
TitleBiology 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
TitleBiophysical 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.
TitleCell type selective viral tools to interrogate and correct non-human primate and human brain circuitry
Investigator
Franck K Kalume, Ed Lein, Boaz Pirie Levi, Jonathan T Ting
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract:
Many cell types together assemble the functional circuitry of the human brain. For over a century, neuroscientists
have categorized brain cell types by their features, including shape, position, physiology, molecules, and
function.