ABSTRACT The overarching goal of this project is to secure, link, and disseminate BRAIN Initiative data, including electrophysiology, imaging, behavioral, and clinical data with all pertinent recording and imaging parameters, coming from participating sites.
PROJECT SUMMARY The wealth, depth and quality of multi-omic data generated through funding from the BRAIN initiative is unprecedented. It ranges from bulk and single cell RNA-seq, to detailed cell type- specific epigenetic analyses throughout development.
ABSTRACT The BRAIN Initiative is designed to leverage sophisticated neuromodulation, electrophysiological recording, and macroscale neuroimaging techniques in human and non-human animal models in order to develop a multilevel understanding of human brain function.
Project Summary/Abstract A fast-growing technique in human neuroscience is electrocorticography (ECOG), the only technique that allows the activity of small population of neurons in the human brain to be directly recorded. We use the term ECOG to refer to the entire range of invasive recording techniques (from subdural strips and grids to penetrating electrodes) that share the common attribute of recording neural activity from the human brain with high spatial and temporal resolution.
Project Summary Recent advances in neurotechnologies have provided us with the ability to modulate brain function by direct and indirect interventions. Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) is one such intervention that has already been FDA-approved for certain disorders, and its use has already raised ethical questions about ways in which direct brain stimulation may affect personal identity, autonomy, authenticity and, more generally, agency. Thus far the neuroethical worries have been largely based on anecdotal clinical reports.
Project Summary A novel technique called transcranial current stimulation (TCS) creates small electrical fields in the brain through electrodes placed on the scalp. As a method for neuromodulation, TCS carries with it many practical benefits: it is portable (battery-operated), inexpensive, and easily deployable in the clinic and at home. Due to this simplicity and apparent versatility there has been an explosion in the number of studies currently underway using either direct or alternating transcranial currents (over 500 clinical trials are listed with clinicaltrials.gov).
Project Summary/Abstract Memory impairment occurs in a variety of neuropsychiatric conditions (e.g., depression and schizophrenia) and in many neurologic disorders (e.g., neurodegenerative disease and brain injury), often with devastating consequences for life quality. The goal of this project is to determine optimal dosing parameters for a new procedure involving the noninvasive enhancement of human hippocampal-cortical brain networks that critically support memory.
1. Project Summary/Abstract Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains the gold-standard treatment for patients with depressive episodes. During a typical four-week ECT series, most depressive episodes remit, and formerly suicidal or psychotically depressed patients will resume their premorbid levels of functioning. Independent of the antidepressant effect of ECT, many patients experience debilitating but transient cognitive effects such as attention and memory def- icits.
ABSTRACT Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) is an emerging technology for the treatment of neurological and psychiatric illnesses. Recent interest has shifted to the cerebellum, where initial promising therapeutic investigations have been made disease such as schizophrenia and ataxia. Despite these developments, the understanding of which parameters are best suited to stimulate the cerebellum remains a mystery.
ABSTRACT Stroke is the leading cause of disability in the United States, with approximately 700,000 new cases per year. Disability from upper limb impairment depends primarily on loss of hand function and finger dexterity. Despite advances in task-specific training for the upper limb, a large number of stroke patients do not regain full function of their hand. Somatosensory peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS) is a promising approach to target recovery of hand motor function in stroke patients.
