Join the BRAIN Initiative Alliance on November 12, 2023, at the Tools, Tech and Theory Social during the 2023 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting.
Are you attending the 2023 Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.? Come talk shop at the Tools, Tech and Theory: A BRAIN Initiative Alliance Social on Sunday, November 12, where you can meet and speak directly with BRAIN Initiative researchers about their cutting-edge work. No registration required.
Researchers will discuss topics including software development, data analysis, data visualization, optics, microscopy, genetic engineering, cell engineering, hardware development, brain modeling, electrode development and recording, and chemical and small molecule engineering.
Several investigators in attendance will present software programs that are accelerating advances in brain mapping and imaging. For example, Ali Haydaroglu, a Ph.D. student at University College London (UCL), will present on Suite3D, developed in partnership with Dr. Matteo Carandini and Dr. Kenneth Harris. Suite3D is a graphics processing tool for two-photon imaging developed for data collected by light beads microscopy. This software dramatically improves the quality of the detected cell and the signal-to-noise ratio of extracted activity. It is currently being used in four laboratories at UCL, as well as The Rockefeller University and Stanford University.
Other toolmakers will discuss new electrodes and probes. Dr. Ellis Meng, a professor of Biomedical Engineering at University of Southern California, will talk about a polymer microelectrode array (pMEA) developed with colleagues Dr. Dong Song and Dr. Kee Scholten. The pMEA supports surface and penetrating implantable brain interfaces. Dr. Meng will demonstrate two ways that neuroscience researchers can access pMEAs and customize them to their specific research needs.
Luisa Schuster, a doctoral candidate at New York University (NYU) created a tool for long-term, round-the-clock monitoring of mouse maternal care and neglect with a low-cost, open-source system. This tool was created with colleagues Dr. Rob Froemke and Dr. Adam Mar and uses a machine learning-based quantitative behavioral analysis program. Schuster will present this high-resolution monitoring system and discuss hardware development.
Dr. Meng Cui, an assistant professor at Purdue University, will present on clear optically matched panoramic access channel-technique (COMPACT), his novel tool for large-volume brain imaging. He will discuss how COMPACT allows imaging access with two to three times greater tissue access volume compared with probes used in other common gradient-index lenses.
Also in attendance, Dr. Haining Zhong, a professor at Oregon Health & Science University, will showcase his lab’s novel cellular and genetic engineering sensors for in vivo imaging and quantification of intracellular biochemical events underlying neuromodulation. He will discuss developing virus and transgenic mouse reagents that he hopes will soon be disseminated to the neuroscience community.
Come learn more about these exciting developments and many other tools and data resources at the social event!
Visit the event page for the full list of tools and toolmakers and to learn more about previous events. Be sure to keep an eye out for the next issue of the BRAIN Initiative Alliance Toolmakers Newsletter.