The BRAIN Blog

The fifth annual BRAIN Initiative Investigators Meeting, held from April 11-13, 2019 in Washington, DC, convened approximately 1600 registrants. In tandem, the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director BRAIN Initiative Working Group 2.0 previewed and has now released their draft report, which is open for public comment through May 15, 2019.

Contributions of the basal ganglia to speech production … High-speed volumetric microscopy of freely-moving Drosophila larvae … Identifying functional neuron subclasses with specificity …

Differences in timing and direction of basal ganglia firing accompany speech production

The objective of the next phase of the NeuroNex Program at the National Science Foundation is the establishment of distributed, international research networks that build on existing global investments in neurotechnologies to address overarching questions in neuroscience.

The virtual conference, featuring multiple NIH BRAIN speakers and BRAIN-funded investigators, addresses the role of the brain and nervous system at multiple levels of observation, from molecular to functional, and the neuroethical implications of this cutting-edge work.

Recent meetings of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Neuroethics Working Group (NEWG) and Multi-Council Working Group (MCWG) provided considerations of the neuroethical implications of sharing brain research data, an update from the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director (ACD) BRAIN Initiative Working Group 2.0, and updates on BRAIN’s scientific progress.

NIH is accepting submissions for artistic and eye-catching images and videos in the 2019 BRAIN Initiative Show Us Your BRAINS! Cool Picture & Video Contest.

The National Academy of Sciences recently recognized Drs. Liqun Luo, Xiaowei Zhuang, and Eve Marder for their extraordinary scientific achievements. The awards will be presented on April 28, 2019, during the Academy’s 156^th annual meeting.

Videocasts will be available for the open sessions of upcoming meetings on Monday, February 11, 2019, and Tuesday, February 12, 2019.

A new data sharing policy will require BRAIN Initiative researchers to submit their data to BRAIN data archives, develop a resource sharing plan, and include costs for data preparation and archiving in grant applications.

The Journal of Neuroscience recently published two commentaries on neuroethics for the NIH BRAIN Initiative: a set of eight guiding principles for neuroethical considerations in neuroscience research, as well as an accompanying commentary on neuroethics strategy and operationalization from NIH Institute Directors involved in BRAIN.