The BRAIN Blog

The article outlines the benefits and challenges of classifying neurons and highlights new genetic techniques for defining cell types.

In the August 7 issue of Science, science writer Emily Underwood elegantly lays out the historical background—dating back to the research of Santiago Ramón y Cajal—underlying The BRAIN Initiative’s goal of classifying the enormous variety of cells in the brain. Underwood goes on to spotlight a handful of new genetic techniques for cataloging neuronal diversity.

A meeting of the Multi-Council Working Group for the NIH BRAIN Initiative provided insights into funding the second wave of BRAIN awardees, explored foundation efforts and potential collaborations, approved a neuroethics workgroup, and contemplated future ventures for the initiative.

NSF issues $13.1 million for 16 new multidisciplinary awards to support BRAIN Initiative

Microscope maker Inscopix receives prestigious designation by World Economic Forum

Dr. Jeff Lichtman and colleagues published a paper in Cell outlining a series of techniques for sectioning, reconstructing, and analyzing a discrete volume of mouse brain tissue with nanometer resolution. Advancing the automated collection and processing of cortical tissue at the nanometer scale, this project stems from a collaborative, six-year effort of multiple researchers currently supported by The BRAIN Initiative®.

NIH BRAIN Initiative grantee Lihong Wang receives award for the development of innovative brain imaging technology. 

Lihong Wang, biomedical engineer at Washington University in St. Louis and NIH BRAIN Initiative grantee, was awarded the 2015 Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award earlier this year by SPIE (the international society for optics and photonics) for his pioneering work towards the development and application of new imaging techniques.

In separate publications, co-chair of the Advisory Committee to the NIH Director for The BRAIN Initiative^SM, Dr. Cori Bargmann, and the current Society for Neuroscience president, Dr. Steve Hyman, outline how projects funded through the Initiative are already paying off only two years following the bold cross-disciplinary effort’s launch.

National Institute of Mental Health Director and co-chair of NIH BRAIN Initiative
Multi-Council Working Group, reviews several scientific advancements stemming from the first year NIH-funded projects.

Data science – the extraction of knowledge from large volumes of unstructured data – has the potential to revolutionize our understanding of health and disease. Yet biomedical science faces a shortage of skilled researchers who have facility with computational ideas and paradigms.