Theory & Data Analysis Tools

The human brain is an unimaginably complicated system of interconnected neurons that is capable of complex thought, emotion and behavior. Macroscale white matter connections quantified via the structural connectome (SC) act as the backbone for the flow of functional activation, which can be represented via the functional con- nectome (FC). Our group and others have shown that quantifying properties of the brain’s structural and func- tional connectomes and their relationship can inform understanding of brain-behavior associations and disease mechanisms4-9.

Project Abstract The first postnatal years are an exceptionally dynamic and critical period of structural and functional development of the human brain. Many neurodevelopmental disorders are the consequence of abnormal brain development during this stage. Several NIH-funded studies have recently acquired and released large-scale infant brain MRI datasets in the National Institute of Mental Health Data Archive (NDA), leading to over 3,000 publically-available infant MRI scans from multiple imaging sites.

ABSTRACT Understanding the biological principles of cell type diversity and organization is necessary for deciphering neural circuits underlying brain function. The recent rapid accumulation of single cell transcriptomic and epigenomic data sets provides unprecedented opportunity to explore the molecular genetic basis of cell type identity, diversity, and organization. However, analysis of multi-omics datasets have been largely driven by statistic methods that typically do not engage the deep knowledge of neurobiology and developmental biology.

Constructing an integrated picture of human brain function requires understanding how the effects of molecular and genetic factors propagate upwards, through many intervening layers of structure and interaction, to influence behavioral, psychiatric and cognitive traits.

Abstract / Summary This proposal aims to perform novel, secondary analyses on large archives of publicly-available fMRI studies in order to quantify the functional characteristics of white matter (WM) and their changes during normal aging and in the progression to Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

Recently, several lines of evidence have supported that synaptic dysfunction represents one of the earliest brain changes in Alzheimer’s disease (AD), leading to hyper-excitation in neuronal circuits.

Project Summary The Child Mind Institute’s Healthy Brain Network (HBN) is an ongoing initiative focused on creating and sharing a biobank of brain and behavioral data now being collected from 10,000 New York City area children and adolescents (ages 5-21).

Project Summary In an effort to better understand structural organization and anatomy of nervous systems at unprecedented spatial resolution, recent efforts, including BRAIN Initiative funded projects, have collected increasingly larger datasets using Electron Microscopy (EM) and X-Ray Microtomography (X

Project Summary/Abstract The Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS) is a BRAIN initiative (R24 MH114705) community-driven standard meant to maximize neuroimaging data sharing, and facilitate analysis tool development.

PROJECT SUMMARY Data sharing is essential to promote equity and maximize the impact of the significant investment in the BRAIN Initiative.