The goal of this proposal is to combine the power of the NEURON mathematical modeling software with the Cybercyte “plug and play” dynamic clamp system. Our product will enable all neuronal electrophysiologists to be able to perform sophisticated NEURON model based dynamic clamp experiments, without any requirement for programming, engineering, or mathematical modeling skills.
This project aims to develop the 2P-ActivityScope™, a revolutionary new microscope based on a technological breakthrough called second-generation Scanned Line Angular Projection (SLAP2) two photon laser scanning microscopy that was recently developed by Dr. Kaspar Podgorski (Janelia Research Campus, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Ashburn, VA).
Understanding the brain is a profound and fascinating challenge, captivating the scientific community and the public alike. The lack of effective treatment for most brain disorders makes training the next generation of neuroscientists, engineers and physicians a key concern. However, much neuroscience is perceived to be too difficult to be taught in school. To make neuroscience accessible and engaging to students and teachers, Backyard Brains is developing SpikerBots: fun and affordable robots that look like brains and are controlled by computer simulations of biological brains.
A fundamental goal of the BRAIN Initiative and other neuroscience projects is to map cell types in the brain and study their changes associated with function, disease, and drug treatment.
ABSTRACT The zebrafish has emerged as a useful model system to discover and characterize genetic and neuronal circuits that regulate vertebrate sleep. However, a limitation of this model is that sleep is determined using behavioral criteria and not the electroencephalogram (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) measures that are used to define mammalian sleep and wake states.
ABSTRACT We propose to develop a targeted illumination confocal (TICO) microscope to enable high speed, large-scale voltage imaging in the brain. This microscope will be based on the combination of two key strategies. The first strategy is high-speed confocal microscopy based on line scanning. The benefit of confocal microscopy is that out-of-focus background is largely rejected by the use of slit detection. We will supplement this background rejection with the additional strategy of targeted illumination.
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Working memory, the ability to maintain and manipulate in formation in memory over a period of seconds, is a critical component of higher cognitive functions. Neurons in the prefrontal cortex and other brain areas continue to discharge during the maintenance of working memory however, little direct evidence exists on how neurons of different types organize into functional circuits to subserve these functions.
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT In humans, damage to a brain region called the retrosplenial cortex leads to pronounced spatial disorientation and severe retrograde and anterograde memory deficits. Similar navigational and memory impairments are also seen in rodents with either lesions or chemogenetic inactivation of the retrosplenial cortex.
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT Many animals rely on spatial cognition for daily survival in order to recognize familiar places and process movements through or between locations. A variety of space-encoding cells in the hippocampus are important for spatial behaviors in mammals. However, neural encoding of space remains uncharacterized in other vertebrate taxa, including amphibians, whose simpler brain structure suggests alternative mechanisms of encoding space.
How are complex behaviors that require the coordination of multiple muscle systems produced? How does the brain suddenly turn them “on”? Vocalizations are seemingly simple, yet to occur, ~100 muscles must be coordinated, such as those for articulation (laryngeal and tongue) and breathing. Moreover, vocalizations must seamlessly integrate with or perhaps even override the breathing rhythm. Innate vocalizations occur in multiple behavioral contexts, like mating, and are presumed to be initiated by a gatekeeper, the periaqueductal gray (PAG).
