ABSTRACT
Although behavioral deficits are common in neurological disorders, the genetic pathways and neural
circuits underlying behavior are largely unknown.
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 #
TitleModel behavior in zebrafish: characterization of the startle response
Investigator
Joy Hart Meserve
Institute
university of pennsylvania
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleModular Systems for Large Scale, Long Lasting Measurements of Brain Activity
Investigator
Hillel Adesnik, Michael S Brainard, Elizabeth A Buffalo, Peter Denes, Loren M Frank, Razi-Ul Haque, Mattias Peter Karlsson, Allison Mika Yorita
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY ABSTRACT
Understanding how brains process information and how dysfunction disrupts that processing requires
measuring patterns of neural activity with cellular spatial and millisecond temporal resolution.
TitleMulti-channel MR-compatible flexible microelectrode for recording and stimulation
Investigator
Robert Kyle Franklin, Yen-Yu Ian Shih
Institute
blackrock microsystems
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has become one of the leading research tools to study brain function and is playing a pivotal role in several large-scale brain mapping projects worldwide.
TitleNetwork Control and Functional Context: Mechanisms for TMS Response
Investigator
Danielle Smith Bassett, Desmond Oathes, Theodore Satterthwaite
Institute
university of pennsylvania
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Despite the increasing use of transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) in both research and clinical practice,
the field nonetheless lacks a theoretical framework to predict the impact of TMS on circuits.
TitleNeural circuit mechanisms underlying hierarchical visual processing in Drosophila
Investigator
Maxwell Holte Turner
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project summary
Understanding how neural circuits give rise to sensory computation and, ultimately, perception, requires
connecting biological features of neural circuits to abstract models of neural computation.
TitleNeural Implant Insertion System using Ultrasonic Vibration to Reduce Tissue Dimpling and Improve Insertion Precision of Floating Arrays in the Neocortex
Investigator
Maureen L. Mulvihill
Institute
actuated medical, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
This Phase I SBIR develops and tests a system for vibrating neural implant floating arrays during insertion to
reduce insertion force, dimpling, tissue damage, and bleeding. The approach will allow precise insertion of
electrode shanks into shallow cortical layers.
TitleNeuroethics of Predictive MRI Testing: Parental Attitudes Towards Pre-Symptomatic Identification of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Investigator
Kate E. Macduffie
Institute
university of washington
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Machine-learning-based classification of neuroimaging data (hereafter ML-MRI) to predict clinical
diagnoses has increased substantially in the last decade.
TitleNeuronal and Dopaminergic Contributions to Dissimilar Evoked Hemodynamic Responses in the Striatum
Investigator
Lindsay Walton
Institute
univ of north carolina chapel hill
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Blood oxygenation level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI) is a non-invasive
imaging technique that infers the presence of increased brain activity from localized increases in oxygenated
hemoglobin.
TitleNew Proteomic and Genome Engineering Approaches to Decipher Astrocyte Function at Synapses
Investigator
Cagla Eroglu, Scott H Soderling
Institute
duke university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Astrocytes are the most abundant glial cells in the human brain. Interactions of astrocytes with synapses via thin
perisynaptic astrocytic processes are critical for proper synaptic connectivity and function.
TitleNew tools to target, identify and characterize astrocytes in the adult nervous system
Investigator
Viviana Gradinaru, Baljit Khakh
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
SUMMARY
In order to understand how the CNS encodes, modifies, stores and retrieves information it is necessary to
explore the diverse cell populations that comprise the CNS. There is an emerging consensus that the CNS
cannot be satisfactorily understood solely as a collection of circuits1.
TitleNext-generation optical brain functional imaging platform
Investigator
Qianqian Fang
Institute
northeastern university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
A more thorough understanding of human brain function has profound implications for advancing neuroscience
research and combatting neurological disease.
TitleNon-invasive targeted neuromodulation via focused ultrasound BBB permeabilization
Investigator
Margaret S Livingstone, Nathan J. Mcdannold
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The goal of the proposed project is to test in macaques a technique for non-invasive, safe, reversible,
modulation of neuronal activity in small targeted regions of the primate brain.
TitleNoninvasive Gene Delivery for Monitoring and Perturbing Cell Types and Circuits in Transgenic and Non-Transgenic Animals
Investigator
Viviana Gradinaru
Institute
california institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
The use of current and emerging genetically encoded tools could greatly benefit from advanced methods
for gene delivery to the desired cell population.
TitleNovel Implantable Smart Magnetoelectric NanoRFIDs for Large-Scale Neural Magnetic Recording and Modulation
Investigator
Sydney S Cash, Nian Xiang Sun
Institute
northeastern university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
A major goal of the BRAIN Initiative is in creating new systems for being able to record and modulate neuronal
activity across wide areas of cortex and at the scale of small ensembles and even individual neurons.
TitleNovel optical probe for dopamine release in neural circuits
Investigator
Marla Feller, Markita Landry
Institute
university of california berkeley
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
A major focus of modern neuroscience is understanding the role of neuromodulators
in neural circuit function and development, in behavior, and their dysfunction in
neurological disease. Neural circuit research has been revolutionized by powerful new
optical techniques.
TitleNWB:N: A Data Standard and Software Ecosystem for Neurophysiology
Investigator
Lydia Lup-Ming Ng, Oliver Ruebel
Institute
university of calif-lawrenc berkeley lab
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Brain function is produced by the coordinated activity of multiple neuronal types that are widely distributed
across many brain regions.
TitleObjective, MRI biomarkers for pre-symptomatic detection of autism spectrum disorder at 6 months old: commercial software development and optimization
Investigator
Bradley A. Bower
Institute
primeneuro, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a broad diagnosis for a disorder characterized by symptoms
affecting repetitive behavior, social communication, and cognitive ability.
TitleOpenNeuro: An open archive for analysis and sharing of BRAIN Initiative data
Investigator
Russell A Poldrack
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
The NIH BRAIN Initiative is supporting a broad portfolio of neuroscience research aimed at
revolutionizing our understanding of the brain.
TitleOptical measurement of causal functional connectivity in posterior parietal cortex
Investigator
Daniel E Wilson
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The mouse posterior parietal cortex (PPC) has emerged as an essential region for decision-making during
memory-guided decision-making tasks.
TitleOptimization and distribution of high density cellular scale carbon and silicon arrays
Investigator
Cynthia Anne Chestek
Institute
university of michigan at ann arbor
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
A longstanding goal in neuroscience is to understand the brain at the level of individual neurons. Existing
techniques involve inserting electrodes that heavily damage the area that they are recording.