NSF-funded scientists and engineers have studied the brain for decades, yet a host of mysteries remain unsolved. In this July 9, 2015 briefing on Capitol Hill, leading experts in brain science discuss some of the latest cross-disciplinary research and cutting-edge technologies to better understand the brain and advance the frontiers of neuroscience.

The briefing was hosted by Congressman Chaka Fattah and sponsored by NSF, Society for Neuroscience, and The Optical Society.

Published on Aug. 5, 2015 by NSF BRAIN Initiative

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg8AeF9IM7s

“For more than a century, scientists have studied the brain, and yet there is still so much about it that remains a mystery. New research is underway to develop and use cutting-edge technologies, and scientists across disciplines are working together to better understand the brain and how it works.”

“Mysteries of the Brain” is produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the NSF.

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published June 9, 2015

“Through neural connections, called synapses, the brain can process and store enormous amounts of information. Neuroscientist Gary Lynch at the University of California, Irvine explains how this incredibly complex communication process allows animals to learn and remember.”

“Mysteries of the Brain” is produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the NSF.

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published June 10, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WPtDO6KXc8

Sabine Kastner, a professor of neuroscience and psychology at Princeton University, is studying how the brain determines what information is most important in everyday scenes. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging, Kastner is able to peek inside the brain and see what areas are active when a person sees a face, place or object.

“Mysteries of the Brain” is produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the NSF.

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published June 9, 2015

“Neuroengineer Rajesh Rao of the University of Washington is developing brain-computer interfaces, devices that can monitor and extract brain activity to enable a machine or computer to accomplish tasks, from playing video games to controlling a prosthetic arm.

“Mysteries of the Brain” is produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the NSF.”

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published June 17, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzZkaaavC28

“Neurobiologist Orie Shafer at the University of Michigan is trying to understand how the brain’s cells communicate in order to control sleep patterns. To help solve this mystery, Shafer is teaming up with mathematician Victoria Booth to study a tiny and very unlikely specimen: the fruit fly. “

Mysteries of the Brain” is produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the NSF.”

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published June 17, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr9ivWrGYRs

“Carlos Aizenman, a neuroscientist at Brown University, is studying the brains of tadpoles to understand how neural circuits develop and absorb information from the surrounding environment.

“Mysteries of the Brain” is produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the NSF.”

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published June 17, 2015

“For years, researchers have struggled to understand how emotions are formed and processed by the brain. Now, neuroscientist Kevin LaBar and his graduate students at Duke University are using a virtual reality room to study how the brain reacts to both negative and positive emotions.

“Mysteries of the Brain” is produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the NSF.”

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published June 10, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BUzeEpcO238

Using amazing new technologies, evolutionary neuroscientist Melina Hale and her graduate students at the University of Chicago are discovering that the basic movements of one tiny fish can teach us big ideas about how the brain’s circuitry works.

“Mysteries of the Brain” is produced by NBC Learn in partnership with the NSF.

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published June 10, 2015