The BRAIN Blog

Submission to our Photo and Video Contest has been extended to April 30! This is your chance to show us your beautiful work and be featured in next year's BRAIN Initiative calendar.  

As it is often said: A picture is worth a thousand words. Neuroscience has made a significant leap since the beautiful hand drawings of Ramón y Cajal and their ability to capture the delicate details of neurons and dendrites. Modern technologies and next-generation innovations continue to allow us to capture and adore the intricacy yet beauty of the brain. 

The 2nd annual BRAIN Initiative Challenge is an essay and video contest for high school students which seeks diverse perspectives on ethics surrounding emerging brain technologies.  

What would happen if humans could altogether stop the effects of aging on the brain? What if we could precisely map, record, and simulate the neural activity of memories? What if we could enhance brain function and intelligence?   

The Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development has partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to organize the “The Brain Across the Lifespan” online workshop on April 18 and 19. 

The Office of the BRAIN Director in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke seeks to recruit a senior bioinformatics scientist with a well-established record of exceptional scientific and technical expertise in data science and data integration.  

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), one of 10 Institutes and Centers at the National Institutes of Health that make up the NIH BRAIN Initiative, is organizing a webinar for potential BRAIN applicants.   

The Concept to Clinic: Commercializing Innovation Education Program is designed to help current BRAIN-funded investigators from a research institution or early-stage start-up better understand how to take their innovative technology and apply it to an unmet market need.  

Imagine looking up on a clear night and instead of seeing the giant celestial smear that is the Milky Way, visualizing every individual star as a crystal-clear sparkle of light. That was my reaction 8 years ago when I laid eyes on the first data to emerge from the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Consortium.

Want to showcase your beautiful work? Our popular photo and video contest is back! Submissions are now open through April 20, 2022.  

In the neuroscience community, we often mention the beautiful hand drawings of Ramón y Cajal and their ability to capture the delicate details of  neurons and dendrites. Today’s innovative and ground-breaking technology continues to capture the wonder and complexity of the brain.  

The BRAIN Initiative’s yearly meeting will take place June 21-22 and will have in-person and virtual participation opportunities.

The 8th Annual BRAIN Meeting: Open Science, New Tools is going to be a hybrid event.

What does this hybrid decision mean for you?

A message to the community from Dr. John Ngai, Director of the NIH BRAIN Initiative. 

Dear BRAIN Community,