Mind-controlled machines have the potential to help people with limited physical control. NSF grantee and biomedical engineer Bin He talks about advances in brain-machine interface technology and the big challenges in brain research.

For more information on Bin He, see his BRAIN 2015 profile.

How two unlikely microbes (that don’t even have brains) led to the development of one of today’s most promising brain research techniques–which is being used to study many diseases including schizophrenia and Parkinson’s.

For more information about the BRAIN Initiative visit: nsf.gov/brain

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published APRIL 18, 2014

Feng Zhang, an investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT and a core member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, discusses the work of his research team on the brain and its relationship to the President’s Brain Initiative. He spoke with NSF’s Lisa-Joy Zgorski during his visit to NSF in May of 2014 to receive NSF’s most prestigious award for young investigators, the Alan T. Waterman Award, with which he was awarded $1 million to further his research.

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published May 2, 2014

Research within the BRAIN Initiative is using flexible materials to transform the way we study the brain. Researcher Todd Coleman discusses his research on flexible materials and how it’s being used to monitor everything from cognitive impairment to brain injuries.

For more information about the BRAIN Initiative visit: nsf.gov/brain

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published APRIL 2, 2014

Optogenetics is a revolutionary field that allows scientists to selectively turn targeted neurons in animal brains on and off. Ed Boyden, of MIT, is one of the pioneering optogenetics research that may help us understand and treat brain disorders.

For more information about the BRAIN Initiative visit: nsf.gov/brain

NSF BRAIN Initiative Published APRIL 2, 2014