It has become increasingly clear that both spontaneous and trained behaviors engage activity throughout the cortex. However, at least in the case of perceptual decisions, task complexity critically modulates the underlying large- and mesoscale cortical dynamics.
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 #
TitleMechanisms underlying large-scale coordination of cortical activity during perceptual decisions
Investigator
Lucas Pinto
Institute
princeton university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleMotion Sequencing for All: pipelining, distribution and training to enable broad adoption of a next-generation platform for behavioral and neurobehavioral analysis
Investigator
Sandeep R Datta
Institute
harvard medical school
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Understanding the function of the nervous system requires a sophisticated understanding of its main
output, behavior.
TitleMulti-region 'Network of Networks' Recurrent Neural Network Models of Adaptive and Maladaptive Learning
Investigator
Kanaka Rajan
Institute
icahn school of medicine at mount sinai
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The massive neural activity data collected through transformative new technologies present an incredible
opportunity in facilitating the mission of the BRAIN Initiative and the wider neuroscience community: to
understand brain function.
TitleNeural signatures of learning complex environments in the amygdala-prefrontal network
Investigator
David Barack
Institute
columbia university health sciences
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The ability to learn and think about complex situations is central to a range of human cognitive
functions, including navigation, reasoning, and decision making.
TitleNeuromodulation approaches for restoring dexterous control following cortical stroke.
Investigator
Preeya Khanna
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Stroke-causing illness, disability, and early death is set to double worldwide within the next 15 years.
Despite physical therapy, about 50% of stroke survivors have impaired hand function, which strongly impacts
activities of daily living and independence; novel treatment methods a
TitleNew methods and theories to interrogate organizational principles from single cell to neuronal networks
Investigator
Mara Dierssen, Bing Ye
Institute
university of michigan at ann arbor
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Understanding how individual neurons contribute to network functions is fundamental to neuroscience. Recent
years have seen exciting progresses in the reconstructions of single-neuron morphologies and wiring diagrams
at the level of individual synapses.
TitlePediatric Deep Brain Stimulation: Neuroethics and Decision Making
Investigator
Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby, Gabriel Lazaro-Munoz, Eric A. Storch
Institute
baylor college of medicine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) and adaptive DBS systems are currently used in children with dystonia,
epilepsy, and Tourette Syndrome, and its use is expanding to other neuropsychiatric conditions.
TitleProprioceptive Coding of Jaw Movement during Orofacial Behavior
Investigator
William Paul Olson
Institute
johns hopkins university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Integration of sensory information with motor commands allows movement to be adaptable. For example,
many survival-critical orofacial behaviors (chewing, drinking, breathing, etc.) involve updating movement
trajectories based on interaction with objects (e.g.
TitleQuantifying causality for neuroscience
Investigator
Konrad P. Kording
Institute
university of pennsylvania
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract:
Causality is central to neuroscience. For example, we might ask about the causal effect of a neuron on another
neuron, or its influence on perception, action, or cognition. Moreover, any medical approaches aim at
producing a causal effect – effecting improvements for patients.
TitleRelating functional MRI to neuronal activity: accounting for effects of microarchitecture
Investigator
Anna I Blazejewska
Institute
massachusetts general hospital
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The central goal of the BRAIN Initiative is to understand the structure and function of human brain circuits.
TitleResponsive Neurostimulation for Loss of Control Eating
Investigator
Casey Harrison Halpern, James D Lock, Robert C Malenka, Tara L Skarpaas (Crowder)
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Abstract
Background/Description.
TitleResponsive Neurostimulation for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Investigator
Jean-Philippe Langevin
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) refractory to treatment is marked by failure of fear extinction and its
biological substrate, amygdala reactivity to trauma reminders13,14.
TitleRevealing the transcriptional and developmental mechanisms of interneuron identity
Investigator
Megan Crow
Institute
cold spring harbor laboratory
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Cortical GABAergic interneurons are critical components of neural circuitry, and their dysfunction has been
linked to neurodevelopmental diseases.
TitleSingle Neuron Analyzer for Multi-modal, Cross-dataset (Epi)genomic Cell Type Datasets
Investigator
Eran A Mukamel
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Our project will create a computational resource, the Single Neuron Analyzer, to support the neuroscience
community’s efforts to build a reproducible, comprehensive, data-driven atlas of brain cell types.
TitleSpinal Circuits for the Control of Dextrous Movement
Investigator
Martyn D Goulding
Institute
salk institute for biological studies
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary: Overall
Local networks within the spinal cord represent an essential computational layer for the control of limb-driven
motor behaviors, integrating descending and sensory inputs to coordinate dexterous motor output.
TitleSpinal Effects of Cortical Stimulation: Mechanisms and Functional Impact
Investigator
Jonathan Saul Carp, Yu Wang, Jonathan Rickel Wolpaw
Institute
wadsworth center
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
Because activity-dependent plasticity is ubiquitous in the CNS, brain stimulation may have long-term effects on
areas to which the stimulated area connects. These effects have received little attention.
TitleSubcellular Mapping and Post-Synaptic Impacts of Striatal Dopamine Release During Behavior
Investigator
Mai-Anh Vu
Institute
boston university (charles river campus)
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
The basal ganglia are a group of deep brain nuclei that play a central role in motivating, selecting, and learning
actions.
TitleTechnology development for closed-loop deep brain stimulation to treat refractory neuropathic pain
Investigator
Edward Chang, Philip Andrew Starr
Institute
university of california, san francisco
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Many pain syndromes are notoriously refractory to almost all treatment and pose significant costs to patients
and society. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) for refractory pain disorders showed early promise but
demonstration of long-term efficacy is lacking.
TitleThe glial mechanism for electrical brain stimulation
Investigator
Hai-Long Wang, Gregory A Worrell, Long-Jun Wu
Institute
mayo clinic rochester
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT:
Electrical brain stimulation (EBS) is a FDA-approved neuromodulation therapy applied to several
neurological disorders. However, the molecular basis of its efficacy remains unclear.
TitleThe Neural Mechanism of Interval Timing in Drosophila
Investigator
Ashley Danielle Smart
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
There is no dedicated sensory organ for time, and yet our brains are able to use time to anticipate the
environment and adapt.