Research Projects

Boulder Nonlinear Systems (BNS) and Prof. Rikky Muller at UC-Berkeley propose a two-phase effort to address current speed limitations in holographic photostimulation. Specifically, the proposed innovations aim to achieve streaming of high-resolution holograms at up to 10,000 frames per second (fps) to enable closed-loop optogenetic control. Optical imaging and photostimulation have emerged as complimentary tools that allow not only direct imaging of neurons and their activity, but also the ability to directly stimulate or inhibit activity in living brains.

Abstract. Whole-organ 3D immunohistochemistry is revolutionizing the field of neuroscience, enabling unprecedented insight into the distribution of neural cells and neurological markers throughout the brain in health and disease.

Abstract This project describes the development of NeuroExM™, a highly innovative system for performing comprehensive spatial distribution analysis of populations of messenger RNAs (mRNAs) and proteins in tissue processed for expansion microscopy (ExM)). The groundbreaking technological advantage of ExM, which was recently developed by Dr. Edward S. Boyden (Dept. Biol. Engin., Media Lab and Dept. Brain Cognit. Sci., MIT, Cambridge, MA) and colleagues, is the ability to isotropically expand tissue and increase the size of the biological structures.

Abstract This project aims to develop WormInvestigator™, a novel, highly innovative system for performing automated, high-throughput and longitudinal studies of the behavior of C. elegans worms freely moving and socially interacting on agar plates (hereafter: "freely moving worms") across multiple time points over extended times (e.g., multiple days) with repeated measures designs. Work in Phase I will focus on demonstrating feasibility of our novel, patent pending, WormRecognizer™ technology – the ability to perform automatic, image-based identification of individual C.

Project Abstract In this Phase I

ABSTRACT Many clinical situations, including stroke, expose the brain to insufficient cerebral blood flow (CBF) that cannot maintain normal cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption (CMRO2) requirements, thereby leading to cerebral ischemic/hypoxic stresses and neurological disorders. Effective interventions are dependent on the findings of CBF/CMRO2 improvement and eventually neural recovery. Rodents (mice and rats) make up 95% of research animals.

Abstract The proposed work aims at the development of an enhanced organoid-based in vitro pre-clinical drug screening platform for neurological and neurodegenerative brain diseases.

Abstract Preclinical small animal imaging makes valuable contributions to improving our understanding of human brain. Multi-modal imaging approaches to combine functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) with Intracranial Electroencephalogram (iEEG) provides an unparalleled view of the global network activity across cortical areas, revealing information at high temporal and spatial scales about functional connectivity and their intrinsic oscillatory properties, which is of vital importance in many branches of neuroscience and medicine.

PROJECT SUMMARY Examining how behavior arises from the complex interconnected activity of the brain is a cornerstone of neuroscience research. A recent technological advance in neurotechnology is enabling studies where the parallel activity of thousands of neurons can be studied in rodent brains. The Neuropixels probe, allowing 384 channels of electrophysiological data to be observed from the brain, is now a valuable tool for next-generation experiments.

PROJECT SUMMARY Over the last century, extracellular recording technologies have progressed from handmade needle electrodes and vacuum tube amplifiers to microfabricated devices containing hundreds of recording sites and on-chip digitization circuits. This technological arc has facilitated Nobel-prize winning discoveries such as the unitary nature of action potentials, the computations underlying mammalian vision, and the neural basis of spatial learning, among many other notable findings.