Project Summary In vertebrate animals, the vestibular system (primarily known as the “balance system” of the brain) interprets head-movement and orientation signals to provide organisms with a sense of self-motion.
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.
Abstract Microelectrode arrays (MEAs) have great potential for therapeutic use in direct brain-computer interface (BCI) control of robotic prostheses to improve the lives of patients suffering from debilitating conditions related to loss of limbs or limb function.
Project Summary Social interactions are critical to the physical and emotional health of a wide variety of species.
PROJECT SUMMARY In social species, social relationships can exert profound influences on individuals’ behavioral and physiological states.
Project Summary: Whether to laugh at a joke or to engage in a lively debate, we flexibly modify our vocalizations based upon social contexts. Such adaptive behavior requires real-time adjustments of motor outputs in response to rapidly changing sensory inputs.
Abstract We have designed a novel approach to perform multi-scale recordings in the brain across regions and depths.
Electrocortical stimulation (ECS) has been used for functional mapping for many decades to identify brain areas that are “critical” for speech and language (i.e., that impair function when stimulated) prior to epilepsy or tumor surgery.
PROJECT SUMMARY Within every brain region, neurons can be classified into dozens or hundreds of different cell types, each with unique functional roles and unique impacts on disease states.
SUMMARY The "NexGen" 7 Tesla MRI scanner at UC Berkeley is a unique resource that we wish to make available for neuroscience collaborations across the globe.
This Phase II project describes the commercial development of HyperAxon™, highly innovative software for performing automated segmentation, tracing, reconstruction and quantitative analysis of all axonal fibers (with and without signs of acute axonal injury) visible in two- and three-dimensional
Project Summary/Abstract: The field of optogenetics — utilizing light to engage biological systems — is widely used for the dissection of neural circuits, cellular signaling and manipulating neurophysiological systems in awake, behaving animals.
Electrostimulation (ES) is a versatile and efficient tool for interrogating, altering, and manipulating neural activities in health and disease.
Changes in the strength of GABAergic transmission is heavily influenced by posttranslational modifications and allosteric modulators like benzodiazepines and neurosteroids.
Project Summary/Abstract The BRAIN Initiative is supporting a broad portfolio of neuroscience research aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the brain.
Electrophysiology is a critical technology in neuroscience as a direct measure of neuronal functions. It has become routine for scientists to record and stimulate neuron populations in different brain regions in awake behaving animals, correlating activity with behavior.
Project Summary Oxytocin is a peptide hormone synthesized and released from the hypothalamus for reproduction, maternal care, and social behavior, as well as various ‘non-social’ aspects of internal state and physiological processes.
Project Summary/Abstract This project will provide a more nuanced and mechanistic model of the role of sleep in memory consolidation, particularly as it pertains to procedural motor skill acquisition in a non-human primate model.
PROJECT SUMMARY Survival in dynamic environments demands that behaviors are flexible and adaptive. An organism must make predictions about which actions lead to rewards, calculate how outcomes differ from those predictions (prediction errors), and adapt a behavioral strategy accordingly.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is the gold-standard method for the detection and diagnosis of brain disease and surgical planning.
Project Summary Public and private research funders have heavily invested in the application of implantable neurotechnologies to improve the management of treatment-resistant conditions and loss of function (e.g., deep brain stimulation (DBS) systems for recovery after traumatic brain injury (TBI