The BRAIN Blog

Latest from The BRAIN Blog

The BRAIN Blog covers updates and announcements on BRAIN Initiative research, events, and news. 

Hear from BRAIN Initiative trainees, learn about new scientific advancements, and find out about recent funding opportunities by visiting The BRAIN Blog.

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black and white image of people working on laptops at a counter height table on stools at the annual BRAIN meeting

BRAIN Publication Roundup – June 2017

BRAIN Initiative team pushes the limits of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) for human brain… A novel tool to manipulate gene function in specific cell types… Understanding the functional diversity of retinal bipolar cells…

Advancements to functional imaging technique result in ultra-high resolution capture of human cortical columns

  • Neuroscience Research and Technology

BRAIN Publication Roundup – Winter 2017

Fabrication and testing of implanted magnetic microcoils to stimulate neurons… Optogenetic-induced seizure model to enhance understanding of interneuron roles… New optical technique to identify voltage activity patterns in specific cell types…

Novel implantable magnetic microcoils stimulate cortical cells and consistently drive behavioral responses

  • Neuroscience Research and Technology

February Meetings of the NIH BRAIN Initiative Multi-Council Working Group and Neuroethics Division

Recent meetings of the Multi-Council Working Group (MCWG) for the NIH BRAIN Initiative and the MCWG Neuroethics Division provided updates on BRAIN’s scientific progress, considerations of the neuroethical issues surrounding the science, and discussions on how to continue working toward the goals of the BRAIN 2025 report…

  • Neuroscience News

BRAIN Initiative Investigators Meeting: Discussion on Neuroethical Implications of Advances in Neurotechnology

In December, the NIH BRAIN Initiative held its third annual BRAIN Initiative Investigators Meeting, gathering experts from around the globe to share their cutting-edge BRAIN-funded research. The attendees spent three days learning about each other’s work, forming new collaborations, and hearing from members of the BRAIN Initiative Alliance.

  • Neuroscience News

Upcoming Meetings for the NIH BRAIN Initiative Multi-Council Working Group and Neuroethics Division

Videocasts will be available for the NIH BRAIN Initiative Multi-Council Working Group and Neuroethics Division meetings on February 14th and February 15th

  • Neuroscience News

BRAIN Publication Roundup – January 2017

Whole brain mapping of a sensorimotor response in the zebrafish… Novel optogenetics combination to control select cells in deep brain tissue at high resolution… Instability of neurons during stable song behavior in songbirds…

Whole-brain optogenetic mapping of a visual sensorimotor behavior in the larval zebrafish.

  • Neuroscience Research and Technology

Neuroethics and the NIH BRAIN Initiative

Advances in neurotechnology are aimed at helping us better understand normal brain function and how to treat dysfunction associated with brain disorders. These technological advances carry potentially profound ethical implications. A set of recently published articles highlight how the NIH BRAIN Initiative is working to integrate neuroethics in neurotechnology research and development.

Despite being a relatively new effort, research funded under the NIH BRAIN Initiative already is producing new technologies and methods

  • Neuroscience News

3rd Annual BRAIN Initiative Investigators Meeting

The 2016 BRAIN Initiative Principal Investigators Meeting will occur December 12-14 in Bethesda, Maryland…

  • Neuroscience News

Three New Notices of Funding Opportunities for Understanding Circuit Functions in the Nervous System

NIH announces three new Requests for Applications (RFAs) for interdisciplinary projects using advanced and innovative technologies to address overarching principles of circuit function in the context of specific brain systems and behaviors. Funding from these new RFAs will enable investigators to unlock the mystery of how complex patterns of neural activity give rise to our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and will lay the groundwork for understanding circuit dysfunctions in brain diseases.

  • Neuroscience Grants and Funding

BRAIN Publication Roundup – Fall 2016

Demonstration of the feasibility of using a fiberless optoelectrode for activating and recording from neurons… New insights into the mechanisms of neurovascular coupling… Chronic in vivo recordings with carbon fiber microelectrodes… In vivo subcellular imaging of voltage and calcium signals…

Newly designed fiberless multi-color optoelectrode for in vivo use

  • Neuroscience Research and Technology