The Neuroscape Lab is using newly emerging technology with the primary goal of driving rapid translation of neuroscience to real-world solutions. The Glass Brain visualization is one of the lab's projects.

It is being developed as a core research facility at the UCSF Neuroscience Imaging Center (NIC) under the direction of Dr. Adam Gazzaley.

The Precision Biosystems Laboratory is focused on fundamental engineering advancements, the development of miniaturized, high-throughput robotic instrumentation, and the application of the two to advance biomolecular science. Their research program is in the emerging bio-nano field—at the intersection of bioMEMS, machine design, neuroengineering, genetics, optics, and manufacturing.

Xu's research has two main thrusts: biomedical imaging and fiber optics. He is exploring new concepts and techniques for in vivo imaging deep into scattering biological specimens, such as mouse brain; developing new medical endoscopes for non-invasive real-time diagnostics of tissues without any exogenous contrast agent and novel optical fibers and fiber-based devices for biomedical imaging and optical communications.

To study neural circuit function our research is focused on advancing and applying in vivo high-resolution imaging methods, with a particular emphasis on neocortical microcircuitry. The lab's specific goals are to reveal principles of single-cell and local network computation and to decipher the neural codes governing information processing as well as circuit plasticity.

The main focus of the Lam Lab lies in discovering revolutionary and innovative methods of disease treatment on a nano-scale and molecular scale. The lab work is most related to molecular medicine, drug discovery, nanoparticle and drug-delivery techniques in cancer and other diseases. Our research is done through the use of cutting edge technologies and established procedures.

Optical Imaging Laboratory develops novel biophotonic tomography for early-cancer detection and functional imaging, using non-ionizing electromagnetic and ultrasonic waves. Research directions include: Photo-acoustic tomography (PAT), Thermo-acoustic tomography (TAT), Ultrasound-modulated (acousto-) optical tomography (UOT), Mueller optical-coherence tomography (M-OCT), Oblique-incidence reflectometry (OIR) and spectroscopy, and Modeling light transport in tissues.

Brefczynski-Lewis Lab studies how we perceive people we love and people we don’t like, both famous and political, and how training in compassion can affect those perceptions. The Lab is examining the neural and physiological correlates of the liked and disliked persons and how these change after training in compassion. Grudge forgiveness study: fMRI response to the face of the grudge person, as well as cardio and reactive measures will be tested before and after the intervention.

Yang Lab's research is focused on applying comprehensive molecular and genetic approaches to study the pathogenesis of Huntington’s disease (HD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD), as well as exploring the molecular genetics and circuitry of the basal ganglia (BG), a brain region targeted in various neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. The overarching approach of our lab is to develop genetic mouse models of these diseases, or create mice that carry mutations in the genes.

Principal Investigator, Tim Gardner
Boston University (Charles River Campus)

The Gardner lab studies the mechanisms of temporal sequence perception and production, focusing on vocal learning in songbirds. The Laboratory of neural circuit formation current research projects involve: Sensory-motor learning; High-density recording and stimulating microelectrodes, Electrode arrays for the central nervous system: tissue interaction; and Peripheral nervous system : chronic recording and stimulation for biolectric medicine.

The Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering at Mayo has a long and rich history of scientists and physicians collaborating and translating basic discoveries. The department currently consists of 18 primary and 35 joint appointees. There are 34 doctoral students, 67 research fellows and research associates working in a variety of research areas.

The Soltesz Lab is interested in how brain cells communicate with each other and how the communication changes after fever-induced seizures in early childhood and after head injury. Our general goal is to understand how neuronal networks function and dysfunction, in order to discover new therapies to prevent epilepsy.

The Frank Lab's goal is to understand how activity and plasticity in neural circuits underlie both learning and the ability to use learned information to make decisions. In particular, our laboratory focuses on the circuitry of the hippocampus and anatomically related regions. We use a combination of techniques, including large scale multielectrode recording, targeted optogenetic interventions and behavioral manipulations of awake, behaving animals to understand how the brain learns and remembers.

Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) focuses on development of unique magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and spectroscopy methodologies and instrumentation for the acquisition of structural, functional, and biochemical information non-invasively in humans, and utilizing this capability to investigate organ function in health and disease. The distinctive feature of CMMR is the emphasis on ultrahigh magnetic fields (7 Tesla and above).

Rinsberg's lab has been focused on temporal aspects of olfactory coding. They recently discovered that a) olfactory neuronal code at the level of olfactory bulb is temporally very precise (~10 ms) [Shusterman-2011], and b) the mammalian olfactory system can read and interpret temporal patterns at this time scales [Smear-2011]. The lab's efforts are directed towards establishing causal connection between neuronal coding and animal behavior.

The goal of Tian Lab's research is to invent new molecular tools for analyzing and engineering functional neural circuits. We also leverage these tools, combined with optical imaging techniques, to study molecular mechanisms of neurological disorders at system level and to empower searching for novel therapeutic treatments.

The lab's research goal is the development of new approaches to the treatment of epilepsy based on a clearer understanding of the necessary steps in seizure initiation and propagation. The two major themes in the lab are neuronal ion transport and the spread of activity in neural networks combining fluorescent imaging of network activity with computerized analysis and modeling to understand how normal and abnormal signaling progresses through neural networks.

The John B. Pierce Laboratory is a nonprofit, independent research institute that is formally affiliated with Yale University. The Laboratory has a long and distinguished history as a leading center for the study of physiological regulatory systems such as those that maintain body temperature, respiration, body fluids, and metabolism within healthy limits.

John Hopkins neuroimaging specialists will develop a noninvasive way of measuring human brain neuronal activity and chemical changes in milliseconds as opposed to several minutes, as in current PET scans. The new technique will also be much more sensitive to neurochemical processes than other imaging techniques, including functional magnetic resonance imaging and magnetoencephalographic recording of brain magnetic fields.

The Roukes Group is working to explore new physics at the nanoscale, and to apply this knowledge to realizing advanced tools for the biomedical and life sciences. Our group's current focus is on (a) next-gen methods for neuroscience enabled by very-large-scale integration of nanoelectronic and nanophotonic devices, (b) single-molecule mass spectrometry and molecular analysis enabled by arrays of nanoelectromechanical systems (NEMS), and (c) on the fundamental physics of NEMS.

The Brain Imaging and Analysis Center (BIAC) brings together scientists from throughout Duke University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to find interdisciplinary solutions to fundamental research questions about the human brain. Two key themes: to improve research techniques in neuroimaging and investigate the functional properties of the human brain.

Tsao Lab explores the neural mechanisms underlying primate vision: how visual objects are represented in the brain, and how these representations are used to guide behavior. How does the brain stitch together pixels into invariant, discrete recognizable objects in space? This is the problem our lab is trying to solve. We are tackling it through study of the monkey brain, the mouse brain, and mathematical modeling. In addition, we are developing a new technique to study the human brain.

The Hannon Lab comprises a broad spectrum of programs in small RNA biology, mammalian genetics and genomics. The Hannon Lab studies RNAi and related pathways in a wide variety of organisms to extract common themes that define both the mechanisms by which small RNAs act and the biological processes which they impact. Current focus is on microRNAs, endogenous siRNAs and piRNAs and their roles in gene regulation, cancer biology, stem cell biology and in defense of the genome against transposons.

Plasticity is a prominent feature of brain development, and in the adult underlies learning and memory and adaptive reorganization of sensory maps. The Nedivi lab, part of the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, studies the cellular mechanisms that underlie activity-dependent plasticity in the developing and adult brain through studies of neuronal structural dynamics, identification of the participating genes, and characterization of the proteins they encode.

Jasanoff Lab is developing a new generation of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) methods to study the neural mechanisms of behavior.The Lab's focus is on the design and application of new contrast agents that may help define spatiotemporal patterns of neural activity with far better precision and resolution than current techniques allow. Experiments using the new agents will combine the specificity of cellular neuroimaging with the whole brain coverage and noninvasiveness of conventional fMRI.

Desimone is interested in how the brain deals with the challenge of information overload. Some messages contain relevant information, but many do not. By studying the visual system of humans and animals, Desimone has shown that relevant information is selectively amplified in certain brain regions, while irrelevant information is suppressed. One reason this happens is that neurons whose activity reflects the relevant information become synchronized with one another.

The goal of the Sur Lab is to understand long-term plasticity and short-term dynamics in networks of the developing and adult cortex, and how disruption of any of these network properties leads to brain disorders. Development of real time, high-speed imaging, activity-sensitive dyes, and light-sensitive ion channels are currently fueling the Lab's exploration of the varied and plastic networks these cells form.

Research interests: viral vector engineering, synthetic biology. Engineering genetic tools for neuroscience.

AMRIT is a research and development company in the field of medical and scientific imaging. The main objective is to find new uses for MRI and to provide the technical knowledge needed to conduct medical and neuroscience studies with the advanced MRI methods. The specific focus of AMRIT is in brain, heart and cancer studies with magnetic resonance imaging.