Funded Awards

Understanding human brain function requires knowledge of its connectivity: how one structure causally influences other components of the network.

In dendrites, Ca2+ is critical in determining how neurons respond to incoming excitation.

PROJECT SUMMARY Although great efforts have been dedicated to characterizing neuronal cell types in the brain, systematic studies on the brain-spinal cord connectome and associated spinal neuronal types are lacking.

Sensory processing is a way to understand neural circuits and their functions during behavior. Behavioral context strongly affects sensory processing. For example, a brief visual stimulus is easier to detect if it appears in a predictable spatial location.

Abstract Motion detection, a fundamental computation of the visual system, begins in the retina. In the mammalian retina, the direction of moving objects is computed by the direction-selective circuit. The retinal output of this circuit is provided by direction-selective ganglion cells (DSGCs).

ABSTRACT Persistent neural activity, a sustained response following brief stimuli that is observed in many brain networks, needs to be appropriately tuned to meet the exacting demands of various motor and cognitive tasks.

Project Summary  Despite the enormous complexity of the brain, it is becoming increasingly apparent that structures like the  cerebral cortex are modular, relying on a set of canonical computations that occur across brain regions and  modalities to mediate perception, cognition and behavior.  One im

Project Summary The theory hub put forward in this proposal will work to translate successful and powerful approaches to describing emergent collective behavior in physical systems so they can be applied to the brain.

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Fast microscopy techniques, coupled with recent advances in tissue clearing, are now able to efficiently produce cellular-resolution images of intact brain samples.

Project Abstract This project is a pilot clinical trial of a new brain stimulation treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. OCD is a mental illness that affects 4-7 million people in the US. Of those, 50-70% still have substantial symptoms after being treated with medication or talk therapy.

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT The mammalian brain has a remarkable ability to store and retrieve information. Detailed memories can be formed after as little as one exposure, and those memories can be retained for decades.

SUMMARY We present Connectome 2.0, the next-generation human MRI scanner for imaging structural anatomy and connectivity spanning the microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic scales.

ABSTRACT Humans interact with their environment in countless ways and can switch seamlessly between activities. Even for seemingly simple tasks, a variety of sensory inputs are integrated to create a motor plan to complete a task. Take the example of picking up a glass.

Project Abstract/Summary The brains of mammals contain an extraordinarily large number of neurons whose activity and interconnections determine the function of circuits that monitor our sensory environment, dictate our motor choices, form memories, and guide all behavior.

PROJECT SUMMARY Sensory perception involves processing incoming sensory input and interpreting that information through rules generated from prior experience.

Cortical Signature and Modulation of Pain Abstract/Project Summary Pain perception contains two main dimensions: the sensory-discriminative and the affective-cognitive aspects.

ABSTRACT The goal of this U44 proposal is to develop and test CranialProgrammer, an image-guided programming tool for 2D/3D mapping of disease-related neural signals over patient and device data for more efficient and effective programming of directional deep brain stimulation (DBS) systems.

Learning from feedback in the real w'orld is limited by constant fluctuations in reward outcomes associated with choosing certain options or actions.

Mental health diseases such as depression are a major burden on society and new treatment options are strongly needed. One strategic goal of NIMH is to develop novel therapies based on discoveries in neuroscience.

The first major goal of this work is to learn how certain brain regions (olfactory system, hippocampus, and cerebellum) learn very complex stimuli that employ a combinatorial code to identify stimuli as points in a high-dimensional space.