Project Summary:
Decoding the electrical and chemical signals in neural circuits is essential to understand the
communication between different brain regions and how these neural networks give rise to a particular function
at the level of the whole organism.
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 #
TitleA whole-brain ultrasonic neural stimulation and photoacoustic recording system in behaving animals
Investigator
Omer Oralkan, Mesut Sahin
Institute
north carolina state university raleigh
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleAccessing the Neuronal Scale: Designing the Next Generation of Compact Ultra High Field MRI Technology for Order-of-Magnitude Sensitivity Increase in Non-Invasive Human Brain Mapping
Investigator
Brian Keith Rutt
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
A complete understanding of both normal brain function and neurological disorders / mental illness will
require the deciphering of the complex brain networks that underlie behavior and cognition, at both whole-brain
and microscopic scales.
TitleAchieving ethical integration in the development of novel neurotechnologies
Investigator
Winston Chiong
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
New technologies that modulate brain function have tremendous potential for alleviating the persistent burden
of depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders, but also raise challenging ethical and societal questions
regarding self-ownership and control over our thoughts,
TitleAn academic industrial partnership for the development of high frame-rate transcranial super resolution ultrasound imaging
Investigator
Paul A Dayton, Gianmarco Pinton
Institute
univ of north carolina chapel hill
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Very recently, the revolutionary technology of contrast enhanced super-resolution ultrasound imaging has been
developed.
TitleBIDS-Derivatives: A data standard for derived data and models in the BRAIN Initiative
Investigator
Russell A Poldrack
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
The effective sharing of data requires the development and broad adoption of standards for the
organization of data and metadata.
TitleBrain circuit mapping using light inducible recombinase systems
Investigator
Ali Haydar Cetin
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Mammalian brain is composed of vast numbers of intricately interconnected neurons with various
molecular, anatomical and physiological identities.
TitleBringing laser focus to voltage imaging: Enhanced indicators and advanced scanning methods for two-photon recording of dense networks in vivo
Investigator
Stephane Dieudonne, Michael Z. Lin
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Recording the electrical impulses of many individual neurons in intact brain circuits in real time would enable a detailed
understanding of how the brain processes information.
TitleCalcium biosensors for deep-tissue imaging and spectral multiplexing
Investigator
Vladislav Verkhusha
Institute
albert einstein college of medicine, inc
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Calcium signaling participates in almost every aspect of cell functioning, specifically in neurons.
TitleCerebellar network mapping with a high-throughput TEM platform
Investigator
Wei-Chung Allen Lee
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
A fundamental goal in neuroscience is to understand how information is processed in neuronal circuits.
Ultimately, we would like to understand the relationship between circuit structure and network function.
However, the immense complexity of most brain networks has been a s
TitleCircuit mechanisms of evidence accumulation during decision-making
Investigator
Zhihao Luo
Institute
princeton university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Circuit mechanisms underlying evidence accumulation during decision-making
Behavior across many types of decision-making is well described by the gradual accumulation of evidence
toward one of multiple alternatives.
TitleControlled neuronal firing in vivo using two photon spatially shaped optogenetics
Investigator
Emily Gibson, Diego Restrepo
Institute
university of colorado denver
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
This is an application in response to RFA-NS-17-00 4 “BRAIN Initiative: Optimization of Transformative
Technologies for Large Scale Recording and Modulation in the Nervous System (U01)”.
TitleCortex-wide volumetric imaging of neuronal activity.
Investigator
Alipasha Vaziri
Institute
rockefeller university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
We propose to design, build, apply, and disseminate a device that will push the boundaries of current
technology for volumetric imaging of distributed activity of large-scale neuronal circuits at high neuronal
sampling rate and single cell resolution.
TitleDecoding the neural basis of resting-state functional connectivity mapping
Investigator
Elizabeth M. C. Hillman
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) is an important modality for imaging the human
brain.
TitleDeep brain stimulation for depression using directional current steering an individualized network targeting
Investigator
Wayne K Goodman, Nader Pouratian, Sameer Anil Sheth
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
The public health burden of Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) has prompted clinical trials of deep brain
stimulation (DBS) that have, unfortunately, produced inconsistent outcomes.
TitleDefining Cell Type Specific Contributions to fMRI Signals
Investigator
Jin Hyung Lee
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary / Abstract: The blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional Magnetic
Resonance Imaging (fMRI) signal source has been long debated since the invention of fMRI in the early 90s.
While fMRI is one of the most successful technologies utilized in numerous studies, the debate over
TitleDevelop and validate novel chemogenetic tools to modulate synaptic transmission
Investigator
Susumu Tomita
Institute
yale university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Neural circuits encode animal behaviors, and neuroplasticity induces long-lasting
changes in neural circuits and animal behaviors. Neural circuits are formed by billions of
neurons, which communicate mostly through synapses.
TitleDevelopment of Hybrid Adaptive Optics for Multimodal Microscopy Deep in the Mouse Brain
Investigator
Steven Graham Adie
Institute
cornell university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
ABSTRACT
Optical imaging holds tremendous promise in our endeavor to understand brain functions. The major
challenges for optical brain imaging are depth and speed. Due to strong tissue scattering, the penetration
depth and imaging speed of optical microscopy in the mouse brain is very limited.
TitleDevelopment of Line-Scan Temporal Focusing for fast structural imaging of synapse assembly/disassembly in vivo
Investigator
Josiah R Boivin
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
A disproportionately large number of mutations resulting in neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric
disorders target synaptic proteins. Synapse remodeling and loss precede cell death in neurodegenerative
disorders, and addictive drugs can alter circuit connectivity.
TitleDevelopment of tools for cell-type specific labeling of human and mouse neocortical neurons
Investigator
Ed Lein, Boaz Pirie Levi, Jonathan T Ting
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
How the brain performs its computational task is a great unsolved problem in biology, but this answer is vital
for us to understand and combat disorders of brain function like autism, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s.
One appealing strategy towards solving this problem is to deconstruc
TitleDiffuse, spectrally-resolved optical strategies for detecting activity of individual neurons from in vivo mammalian brain with GEVIs
Investigator
Nozomi Nishimura
Institute
cornell university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Measuring and understanding the activity of individual neurons is critical for understanding how neuronal circuits function and lead to behavior. Two-photon microscopy of calcium-sensitive indicators has produced insightful data on the role of individual neurons with populations.