PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The ability to track electrical activity in genetically defined neurons deep in the brain has long been sought by neuroscientists
to unravel the functions of neuronal circuits in health and disease.
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 #
TitleDesigning and deploying an expanded color palette of voltage indicators engineered for multiphoton microscopy
Investigator
Francois St-Pierre, Andreas Tolias
Institute
baylor college of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleDetermining the role of muscle afferent signals in cortical proprioceptive representation
Investigator
Kyle Blum
Institute
northwestern university at chicago
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The overall premise of this proposal is to understand how the transformation of the signals from proprioceptive
afferents within muscles leads to the representation of movements in somatosensory cortex.
TitleDevelop a multi-modal cross-scale fMRI platform with laminar-specific cellular recordings through multi-channel tapered photonic crystal fiber array
Investigator
Xin Yu
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Brain dynamic low-frequency (
TitleDeveloping genetically-encoded detectors for neuropeptide release based on class B G-protein coupled peptide receptors
Investigator
Zhiping P. Pang
Institute
rbhs-robert wood johnson medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Synaptic transmission is mainly mediated by classical neurotransmitters such as glutamate and g-amino butyric
acid (GABA) which transduce fast information flow in the brain. This process is tightly regulated by neuromodu-
lators including monoamines and neuropeptides.
TitleDeveloping novel chemo-optogenetic tools for in vivo applications
Investigator
Pui Ying Lam
Institute
university of utah
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Optogenetics and chemo-optogenetics are powerful tools for modulating cell activities with light.
TitleDevelopment and validation of AAV vectors to manipulate specific neuronal subtypes and circuits involved in epilepsy and psychiatric disorders across mammalian species.
Investigator
Benjamin E Deverman, Jordane Dimidschstein, Gordon J Fishell
Institute
broad institute, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
In this proposal we aim to identify gene regulatory elements that permit the targeting and manipulation of brain
circuit models of human brain function.
TitleDevelopment of new photo-releasable neuropeptide nano-vesicles for studying modulation in the brain
Investigator
Zhenpeng Qin, Paul A Slesinger
Institute
university of texas dallas
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Neuropeptides are important signaling molecules that regulate brain states, modify neural activity and control
vascular tone in the nervous system.
TitleDissecting the inhibitory architecture governing basal ganglia output
Investigator
Rebekah C Evans
Institute
national institute of neurological disorders and stroke
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The initiation and maintenance of organized movement through the basal ganglia is strongly influenced by its feed-forward and feedback inhibitory architecture. The substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc) and pedunculopontine nucleus (PPN) contribute to the overall output of the basal ganglia.
TitleDual Lead Thalamic DBR-DBS Interface for Closed Loop Control of Severe Essential Tremor
Investigator
Kelly D Foote, Karim G Oweiss
Institute
university of florida
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Abstract
Essential Tremor (ET) is a progressive disease that leads to significant disability and
markedly diminished quality of life.
TitleDynamic Neural Mechanisms of Audiovisual Speech Perception
Investigator
Michael S Beauchamp, Charles E Schroeder
Institute
baylor college of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Speech perception is inherently multisensory: when conversing with someone that we can see,
our brains combine auditory information from the voice with visual information from the face.
Speech perception lies at the heart of our interactions with other people and is thus one
TitleEffects of standard fMRI calibrations on the diverse microvascular blood flow and oxygenation responses in cortical layers
Investigator
Ikbal Sencan-Egilmez
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
This proposed project focuses on quantifying the spatial and temporal diversity in cortical oxygen metabolism and neurovascular coupling, and informing next generation of biophysical models of the Blood Oxygen Level Dependent (BOLD) functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) measurements by integr
TitleEfficiency and Safety of Microstimulation Via Different Electrode Materials
Investigator
Xinyan Tracy Cui
Institute
university of pittsburgh at pittsburgh
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Microstimulation has been an invaluable tool for neuroscience researchers to infer functional connections
between brain structures or causal links between structure and behavior.
TitleExpanding access to open-source data acquisition software for next-generation silicon probes
Investigator
Joshua H Siegle
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
We plan to provide software support services for Neuropixels probes, a groundbreaking new tool for recording
electrical signals from the brain.
TitleExpanding field-of-view with reduced tissue displacement in micro-endoscopic computational imaging
Investigator
Steven M Blair, Rajesh Menon, Jason D Shepherd
Institute
university of utah
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Optical imaging methods are well-established in neuroscience, but high-speed, high-
resolution volumetric imaging of neural activity in deep tissue remains a challenge.
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
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.
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.