Project Summary/Abstract Ethical concerns raised from both current and historically controversial psychosurgeries are driving disparities in accessibility to emerging BRAIN Initiative technology for those with severe, disabling, chronic mental illness like individuals with treatment-refractory schizophre
Project Summary/Abstract The connections between different brain regions play an important role in normal brain function. This project proposes to create an end-to-end pipeline for analysis of human white matter connections using “tractometry” methods. In tractometry, tissue properties are estimated in the long-range connections between remote brain regions. The project will focus on the analysis of the Human Connectome Project diffusion MRI dataset, which provides one of the largest available publicly available datasets of diffusion MRI from a sample of normal healthy individuals.
Abstract One of the high priority research areas listed in the BRAIN 2025 Report is a better understanding of the brain network dynamics across time and space from human electrophysiological recordings.
Linking molecular and anatomical features of brain cell identity through computational data integration Abstract The brain contains diverse cell types that vary widely in characteristic properties and function in complex, interconnected circuits. A complete definition of cellular identity in the brain requires incorporating both molecular and anatomical properties, including gene expression, epigenetic regulation, spatial position, and axonal projection patterns. However, existing experimental approaches cannot measure all of these features simultaneously within individual cells.
PROJECT SUMMARY The highly-organized intrinsic brain activity, as measured by resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI), is being widely used to measure functional brain connectivity in both healthy subjects and patient groups, despite the underlying neural mechanisms remain largely unclear. Converging evidence has suggested that infra-slow propagating activity may play an important role in generating rsfMRI connectivity and dynamics, and it thus could be the key to understanding the neural basis of rsfMRI connectivity and the functional role of intrinsic brain activity.
PROJECT SUMMARY Perivascular spaces are a critical component of the glia-lymphatic circuit, facilitating the clearance of soluble waste. The role of perivascular spaces and changes in the brain’s clearance system in normal development, aging, and cognition is not fully understood, mainly due to lack of neuroimaging capabilities. However, noninvasive in vivo mapping of the perivascular space fluid with high accuracy and reliability is now made possible with our recent analytical developments, using human connectome project (HCP) data.
ABSTRACT A fundamental ethical tenet in medicine is bodily sovereignty, inherent in which is the concept of control. Over the past 10 years, there has been considerable discussion in the neuroethics literature concerning the loss of control attributed to neuromodulation devices, specifically deep brain stimulation (DBS), with a focus on reduced control related to undesired personality changes. Many of these concerns either explicitly or implicitly focus on the invasiveness of the DBS device.
Project Summary / Abstract This 4-year Neuroethics R01 based at the University of Minnesota (UMN) will convene a national Working Group of top neuroethics, neurolaw, and neuroscience experts to conduct empirical research and generate evidence-based consensus recommendations for the ethical conduct of population research using highly portable, cloud-enabled MRI in new and diverse populations in field settings.
Project Summary/Abstract The BRAIN Initiative has made a significant investment in invasive human neuroscientific studies that take advantage of unique neurosurgical opportunities to study basic human neuroscience without therapeutic intent. These non-therapeutic studies are of particular ethical interes
Abstract This application will combine the strengths of two large scale NIH-funded initiatives to understand disorder- related patterns in the human brain: Connectomes Related to Human Disease (CRHD) and Enhancing Neuroimaging Genetics through Meta-Analysis (ENIGMA). We will develop and evaluate novel brain vulnerability metrics - based on the idea of polygenic risk scores – that we expect to better predict diagnosis and cognitive performance than standard neuroimaging measures.
