The BRAIN Blog

The articles cover a wide range of topics related to BRAIN Initiative goals, from multi-scale neural recordings to deep brain stimulation to technologies for recording activity in human brains such as EEG and ECoG.

The journal IEEE Transactions on Biomedical Engineering devoted their March issue, 22 articles in all, to BRAIN Initiative research. “These articles reflect a rich spectrum of BRAIN research on neurotechnologies for recording, imaging, interfacing and modulating the brain at multiple scales,” write the editors.

The NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, a group of institutes, centers, and offices that have provided financial support to the NIH BRAIN Initiative, is advertising a Request for Applications (RFA) for training programs in computational neuroscience.

In a recent “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) the National Science Foundation (NSF) describes their intent to create a National Brain Observatory (NBO) to create a coherent national infrastructure for neuroscience that fosters collaboration, development, and dissemination of research resources and instrumentation.

Formal letter of agreement describes new partnership with Lundbeckfonden to support the involvement of researchers at Danish institutions in the BRAIN Initiative.

The 10 NIH Institutes and Centers invested in the BRAIN Initiative recently announced a new international partnership, formalized by a letter of agreement, with Lundbeckfonden (the Lundbeck Foundation) to support the involvement of Danish researchers in the NIH BRAIN Initiative.

Widespread delivery of genes across the blood brain barrier…light-activated glutamate receptors become more specialized, used in vivo for first time…manipulations of intraocular pressure are used to measure intracranial pressure…researchers discover new types of retinal ganglion cells.

Designing a more efficient way to transfer genes to neurons throughout the brain

The fourth meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group for the NIH BRAIN Initiative provided feedback on concepts for new funding opportunity proposals for fiscal year 2017, introduced the possibility of a new federal partner, addressed neuroethical plans, and contemplated the long-term future of the Initiative.

Many of the more than 29,000 attendees of the most recent Society for Neuroscience (SfN) conference in Chicago took advantage of several opportunities to learn more about the exciting research funded by The BRAIN Initiative.

Microbubbles help lasers focus on neurons deep in the brain…New genetically encoded voltage indicator reveals individual action potentials…Scientists use RNA sequencing to classify neurons in primary visual cortex.

Microbubbles help lasers focus on neurons deep in the brain

Researchers have genetically modified the entire family of GABA_A receptor subtypes, which mediate inhibitory synaptic transmission in the brain, to make them controllable with pulses of light with high spatial, temporal, and biochemical precision.

Following the announcement of a Public-Private Partnership Program in early fall, NIH has released two notices of funding opportunities for small business concerns to develop the latest-generation implantable stimulating and/or recording devices for translational and clinical neuroscience research in humans.