A major goal of the BRAIN Initiative is to promote the development of neural activity measurement tools that
bridge between spatial scales, so that the processing roles of individual neurons and microcircuits can be related
to broader regional or brain-wide 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 #
TitleMultimodal probes for multiscale calcium imaging
Investigator
Alan Jasanoff
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
TitleMultiplex interrogation of neuromodulatory signaling in behaving animals with enhanced depth and resolution
Investigator
Lin Tian, Mark E Vonzastrow
Institute
university of california at davis
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
The dynamic adaptability of the mammalian brain to environmental changes is remarkable, as it is the complexity
of the networks of neurons underlying the operations that allow for such adaptations.
TitleMultiscale computational frameworks for integrating large-scale cortical dynamics, connectivity, and behavior
Investigator
Tatiana Engel
Institute
cold spring harbor laboratory
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
A central problem in neuroscience is to understand how activity arises from neural circuits to drive animal
behaviors. Solving this problem requires integrating information from multiple experimental modalities and
organization levels of the nervous system.
TitleMultiscale theory of synapse function with model reduction by machine learning
Investigator
Eric D Mjolsness
Institute
university of california-irvine
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary/Abstract
This project constructs a unifying model that links synaptic morphodynamics, the fundamental process of
learning and memory in the brain, to the underlying molecular signaling pathways that regulate it.
TitleNABOR: A Sustainable, High-quality Neuroscience Antibody Open Resource
Investigator
Melina Fan
Institute
addgene, inc.
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
The goal of this project is to build an open-access recombinant antibody/affinity reagent resource for the
neuroscience community called NABOR (Neuroscience AntiBody Open Resource).
TitleNanosensors for sensitive brain-wide neurochemical imaging
Investigator
Alan Jasanoff
Institute
massachusetts institute of technology
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The large-scale dynamics of neural circuitry depend on interactions among numerous neurochemical spe-
cies that play functionally distinct roles throughout the brain.
TitleNational Center for Microscopy and Imaging Research: A BRAIN Technology Integration and Dissemination Resource
Investigator
Mark H Ellisman
Institute
university of california, san diego
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
This project aims to disseminate validated technologies and resources of the National Center for Microscopy
and Imaging Research (NCMIR) at UC San Diego to advance the completion of strategic goals of the BRAIN
Initiative.
TitleNeural dynamics of somatosensory guidance of dexterous movement in intact and stroke-injured networks
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.
TitleNeural mechanisms of multisensory auditory-olfactory integration in the auditory cortex
Investigator
Nathan Vogler
Institute
university of pennsylvania
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
Living organisms interact with complex environments that are inherently multisensory. Within these
environments, the brain must integrate information from multiple sensory modalities, including the auditory and
olfactory systems, for perception and behavior.
TitleNeural Mechanisms of Social Communication in Parrots
Investigator
Jesse Heymann Goldberg
Institute
cornell university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
When Confucius said, “Tell me who are your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are,” he was noticing that how we
behave and communicate is shaped by who we choose to hang out with every day. We constantly mimic the
mannerisms and behaviors of friends and loved ones.
TitleNeural Mechanisms of Transcranial Current Stimulation
Investigator
Bart Krekelberg, Pierre- Olivier Polack
Institute
rutgers the state univ of nj newark
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Transcranial current stimulation (TCS) creates small electrical fields in the brain through electrodes placed on
the scalp.
TitleNeuro-CROWN:Optimized Ultra-Flexible CMOS Electrode Arrays for 3D, Low-Noise Neural Interfaces
Investigator
Hui Fang, Jonathan Viventi
Institute
duke university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary / Abstract
The purpose of this project is to optimize circuit and system architectures of active electrode arrays which will
provide low-noise, multiplexed acquisition of neural signals from thousands of electrodes.
TitleNeuroExM
Investigator
Jacob R Glaser
Institute
microbrightfield, llc
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
This project describes the development of NeuroExM™, a highly innovative system for performing
comprehensive spatial distribution analysis of populations of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and proteins in tissue
processed for expansion microscopy (ExM)).
TitleNeuroJSON - A Scalable, Searchable and Verifiable Neuroimaging Data Platform
Investigator
Qianqian Fang
Institute
northeastern university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Traditional file-based neuroimaging data management and integration strategies have shown
increasing limitations in accommodating the meteoric growth in both the scale and complexity of today’s
neuroimaging data.
TitleNext-generation MORF Mice for Scalable Brainwide Morphological Mapping and Genetic Perturbation of Single Neurons
Investigator
Hong-Wei Dong, Xiangdong William Yang
Institute
university of california los angeles
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
PROJECT SUMMARY
A major challenge in studying the mammalian brain is to characterize the integrative properties of
individual neurons, such as molecular profiles, complete morphology (dendrites, axons, synapses),
connectivity, and activity; furthermore, this must be done at a scale that is commensu
TitleNIPreps: integrating neuroimaging preprocessing workflows across modalities, populations, and species
Investigator
Oscar Esteban, Michael Peter Milham, Russell A Poldrack, Ariel Shalom Rokem, Theodore Satterthwaite
Institute
stanford university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
Despite the rapid advances in the neuroimaging research workflow over the last decade, the enormous
variability between and within data types and specimens impedes integrated analyses.
TitleNovel high-field MRI compatible subdural electrode and acquisition system for recording and stimulation in small animals
Investigator
Hernan Millan
Institute
emri systems llp
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Abstract
Preclinical small animal imaging makes valuable contributions to improving
our understanding of human brain.
TitleOpen-Access AAV Toolbox for Basal Ganglia Cell Types and Circuits
Investigator
Trygve Bakken, Tanya Lynn Daigle, Boaz Pirie Levi, Jonathan T Ting, Bosiljka Tasic
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project Summary
We propose to leverage new and existing transcriptomic and epigenetic datasets from mouse, marmoset,
macaque and human brain to develop refined approaches for brain cell type enhancer selection for creating cell-
type specific enhancer adeno-associated viruses (AAVs), and to make inr
TitleOpenScope: A Platform for High-Throughput and Reproducible Neurophysiology Open to External Scientists to Test Impactful Theories of Brain Function
Investigator
Christof Koch, Jerome Anthony-Jean Lecoq
Institute
allen institute
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
Project summary
Over the past five years, the Allen Institute has built two unique in-house pipelines for in vivo electro- and
optical-physiology: together they form the Allen Brain Observatory.
TitleOptical gearbox for high speed neural recording
Investigator
Meng Cui, Guang Yang
Institute
purdue university
Fiscal Year
Funding Opportunities Number
Project Number
The rapid advance of genetically encoded functional indicators allows the scientists to visualize
neuronal activities with light in the living brain at high spatiotemporal resolutions.