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.
OnAir Post: Neuroscape Lab & Glass Brain
The Stanley team will focus on the development of tools to instantly and precisely target cell activity deep in the brain using radio waves, nanoparticles and genetically modified viruses.
OnAir Post: Remote regulation of neural activity
Principal Investigator: Bryan Roth UNC Neuroscience
Roth Lab studies the structure and function of G-Protein coupled receptors (GPCRs). Roth Lab is part of the Department of Pharmacology, a research department in the School of Medicine at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The Roth lab is the principal contractor for the NIMH Psychoactive Drug Screening Program which includes the PDSP Ki database.
Serotonin receptor neurobiology: Since 1984, my lab has studied serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) and its receptors. Recently we have been focused on targeting and trafficking of 5-HT2-family receptors . Ongoing projects are directed to using mouse genetics to delineate the roles of accessory proteins and post-translational modifications in 5-HT receptor actions.
Website: pdspdb.unc.edu/rothlab/ BRAIN Initiative Grant – ” Dreadd2.0: An Enhanced Chemogenetic Toolkit”
Email: estelalopez@unc.edu Phone: 919-966-7535 Address: 4072 Genetic Medicine UNC-CH School of Medicine Chapel Hill, NC 27599-7365
The Roth lab perfected the chemogenetic technology we have named “DREADD” (Designer Receptor Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs; Armbruster et al, 2007). DREADD technology has afforded 100’s of labs world-wide the opportunity to discover how cell-type specific modulation of signaling is translated into behavioral and non-behavioral outcomes (see Urban and Roth, Ann Rev Pharmacol Toxicol 2015 for recent review)
The Roth lab continues to enhance ...
OnAir Post: Roth Lab – UNC
Research Director: Serge Picaud Pierre and Marie Curie University
Built in the heart of the Quinze-Vingts National Eye Hospital, the Vision Institute is one of the most important research centers in Europe on eye diseases.The Institute’s goal is to discover, test and develop treatments and technological innovations of tomorrow in order to prevent or limit visual impairment and to improve the autonomy and the quality of life of patients.
Website: institut-vision.org/ Brain Initiative Grant
Email: contact@institut-vision.org Phone: 33 1 53 46 26 48 Address: The Vision Institute 17 rue Moreau 75012 Paris – France
OnAir Post: IDV – The Vision Institute
Principal Investigator: Patrick Kanold UMD Neuroscience and Cognitive Science
The major focus in the lab is to understand how information about the world is represented/encoded in the brain, the circuits present in the adult and developing brain and their influence of brain development and plasticity. One focus is on probing the response of the brain to sensory stimuli and the other is to record from small sub-circuits and study their responses and circuit behavior in great detail.
Website: clfs.umd.edu/biology/kanold BRAIN Initiative Grant – “Crowd coding in the brain: 3D imaging and control of collective neuronal dynamics”
Email: pkanold@umd.edu Phone: 301.405.5741 Address: 1116 Bioscience Research Building College Park, MD 2074
The human brain is a tremendously complex neuronal circuit that we don’t really understand. For example we do not know how sensory information about the world is encoded in neuronal population activity and transformed into a percept.
Moreover, somehow during development all the highly specific connections in the brain are made so that we can function normally. It is clear now that we do not come hard-wired but that interaction with the environment plays a major role in shaping our brain. In particular during OnAir Post: Kanold Lab – UMD
Principal Investigator: Euisik Yoon University of Michigan Neuroscience
The mission of the Yoon lab is to build self-contained microsystems that will combine and process natural signals (such as bio, chemical, optical and thermal signals) as well as electrical signals on a single chip platform by integrating new MEMS/nano structures with low-power, wireless VLSI circuits and systems. Currently, we have three main research thrusts: microfluidic systems, MEMS neural interfaces, and CMOS imaging and neural interfacing ICs.
Website: yoon.eecs.umich.edu/ BRAIN Initiative Grant – ” Modular High-Density Optoelectrodes for Local Circuit Analysis”
Email: esyoon@umich.edu Address: 1301 Beal Avenue, Ann Arbor
The mission of our lab is to build self-contained microsystems that will combine and process natural signals (such as bio, chemical, optical and thermal signals) as well as electrical signals on a single chip platform by integrating new MEMS/nano structures with low-power, wireless VLSI circuits and systems. Currently, we have three main research thrusts: microfluidic systems, MEMS neural interfaces, and CMOS imaging and neural interfacing ICs.
Mapping the brain and peripheral circuits may be the grandest challenge in a all of science today. Our mission is to help neuroscientists, neurologists, and other clinicians understand these amazingly complex circuits with tools that can monitor neural activity or recreate ...
OnAir Post: Yoon Lab – Michigan
Principal Investigator: Jeffrey M. Friedman Senior Research Associate: Sarah Stanley, Rockefeller University
The application of modern methods in genetics has led to the identification of a new hormone, leptin, that regulates body weight. Leptin is an adipose tissue hormone that interacts with receptors in the brain to regulate food intake, energy expenditure and other neuroendocrine systems. The molecular mechanisms of leptin in the brain are under investigation. These studies are being conducted in parallel with efforts to identify obesity genes in the human.
Diagram showing the phosphorylation sites on ribosomal protein S6 and strategy for immunoprecipitation of phosphorylated ribosomes. from A critical role for mTORC1 in erythropoiesis and anemia.
Website: lab.rockefeller.edu/friedman/ Brain Initiative Grant
Email: Jeffrey.Friedman@rockefeller.edu Phone: (212) 327-8000 Address: The Rockefeller University 1230 York Avenue New York, NY 10065 (212) 327-8000
The application of modern methods in genetics has led to the identification of a new hormone, leptin, that regulates body weight. Leptin is an adipose tissue hormone that interacts with receptors in the brain to regulate food intake, energy expenditure and other neuroendocrine systems. The molecular mechanisms of leptin in the brain are under investigation. These studies are being conducted in parallel with efforts to identify obesity genes in the human.
OnAir Post: Laboratory of Molecular Genetics – Rockefeller
Principal Investigator: John L. R. Rubenstein UCSF Neuroscience
The goal of Rubenstein Lab research is to elucidate fundamental mechanisms that regulate development of the forebrain, with a focus on the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia. Our studies also extend into other regions of the embryo, including the developing face. Whenever possible, we attempt to investigate whether disruption of these mechanisms underlie human disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia, mental retardation, epilepsy and craniofacial disorders.
Website: rubensteinlab.ucsf.edu/ BRAIN Initiative Grant – “Identification of enhancers whose activity defines cortical interneuron types”
Email: john.rubenstein@ucsf.edu Phone: 415-476-7862 Address: John L.R. Rubenstein, M.D., Ph.D. Genetics, Development and Behavioral Sciences Building 1550 4th Street, 2nd Floor South, Room GD 284C University of California at San Francisco San Francisco, CA 94143-2611
Mission The goal of our research is to elucidate fundamental mechanisms that regulate development of the forebrain, with a focus on the cerebral cortex and basal ganglia. Our studies also extend into other regions of the embryo, including the developing face. Whenever possible, we attempt to investigate whether disruption of these mechanisms underlie human disorders, such as autism, schizophrenia, mental retardation, epilepsy and craniofacial disorders. We hope that our studies provide insights into new inroads for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of these disorders.
History Our research group began at Stanford in 1988 to ...
OnAir Post: Rubenstein Lab – UCSF
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.
OnAir Post: X. William Yang Research Group – UCLA
Principal Investigator: Richard Kramer UC Berkeley Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute
Kramer Lab studies utilize novel chemical reagents to modify the function of ion channels and synapses. This Chemical-Biological approach is designed to allow non-invasive optical sensing and optical manipulation of channels and synapses in the nervous system. One major goal of this research is to develop the technology for restoring vision in degenerative blinding diseases.
Regulating native ion channels with light – we have sought a simple method for bestowing light-sensitivity onto neurons that does not require exogenous gene expression, but rather can be carried out on freshly obtained, relatively unadulterated, neural tissue.
Website: mcb.berkeley.edu/labs/kramer/ Brain Initiative Grant
Email: rhkramer@berkeley.edu Phone: (510) 643-2406 Address: University of California Department of Molecular and Cell Biology 121 Life Sciences Addition Berkeley, CA 94720-3200
Nerve cells communicate using electrical and chemical signals. Ion channels are the proteins that generate electrical signals in neurons, and synaptic transmission is the process that allows a neuron to communicate chemically with other cells. Our studies utilize novel chemical reagents to modify the function of ion channels and synapses. This Chemical-Biological approach is designed to allow non-invasive optical sensing and optical manipulation of channels and synapses in the nervous system. One major goal of ...
OnAir Post: Kramer Lab – Stanford
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.
OnAir Post: Frank Laboratory – UCSF
Principal Investigator: Roger Tsien Research Scientist: John Yu-Luen Lin UCSD Neuroscience
The multicolored fluorescent proteins developed in Tsien’s lab are used by scientists to track where and when certain genes are expressed in cells or in whole organisms. Typically, the gene coding for a protein of interest is fused with the gene for a fluorescent protein, which causes the protein of interest to glow inside the cell when the cell is irradiated with ultraviolet light and allows microscopists to track its location in real time. This is such a popular technique that it has added a new dimension to the fields of molecular biology, cell biology, and biochemistry.
In 2009 Tsien reported a new class far-red and infrared fluorescent proteins that have great potential in in vivo imaging.
Website: tsienlab.ucsd.edu/ Wikipedia Entry: wiki/Roger_Y._Tsien Brain Intiative Grant
Phone: (858) 534-7009 Address: HHMI – UCSD 9500 Gilman Dr George Palade 310 La Jolla, CA 92093-0647
Roger Tsien’s lab studies signal transduction, especially in neurons and cancer cells, with the help of designed molecules, imaging, and photochemical manipulation.
The overall goal of my laboratory is to gain a better understanding of signaling inside individual living cells, in neuronal networks, and in tumors. We ...
OnAir Post: Tsien Lab – UCSD
Principal Investigator: Changhuei Yang Caltech Neuroscience
The Biophotonics Laboratory is focused on the development of novel tools that combine optics and microfluidics to tackle diagnostic and measurement problems in biology and medicine. The major techniques that are under development in the laboratory include the ePetri, Fourier Ptychographic microscopy, and time-reversal optical focusing.
Wide Field-of-view on-chip Fluorescence Microscopy.Because of the high specificity and high sensitivity of fluorescent probes, fluorescence microscopy plays a vital role in modern clinical diagnosis and biological research. However, due to its limited field-of-view (FOV), size, and cost, conventional microscopy is becoming a bottleneck in rapidly emerging and evolving areas such as large-scale genome screening, point-of-care diagnosis, and long-term cell imaging.We have developed a wide FOV on-chip fluorescence microscopy method based on the Talbot effect, termed fluorescence Talbot microscopy (FTM)
Website: biophot.caltech.edu/ BRAIN Initiative Grant – Time-Reversal Optical Focusing for Noninvasive Optogenetics
Email: chyang@caltech.edu Phone: (626) 395-8922 Address: Moore Laboratory MC 136-93, 262 Moore:
The research of the Biophotonics Laboratory, led by Professor Changhuei Yang, is focused on the development of novel tools that combine optics and microfluidics to tackle diagnostic and measurement problems in biology and medicine. The major techniques that are under development in the laboratory ...
OnAir Post: Biophotonics Laboratory – Caltech
Principal Investigator: Oliver Hobert Columbia Neuroscience
The main focus of the laboratory is to understand the molecular mechanisms that generate the astounding diversity of cell types in a nervous system. Using the C.elegans model system, they have revealed a core regulatory logic for how terminal neuronal identity is controlled in several different neuron types and have demonstrated that these regulatory mechanisms are conserved in chordates.
Website: hobertlab.org/ Brain Initiative Grant
Email: or38@columbia.edu Phone: (212) 305-0065 Address: 701 W. 168th St. HHSC 724 New York, NY 10032
The main focus of the laboratory is to understand the molecular mechanisms that generate the astounding diversity of cell types in a nervous system. Using the C.elegans model system, we have revealed a core regulatory logic for how terminal neuronal identity is controlled in several different neuron types [1-6]. We have demonstrated that these regulatory mechanisms are conserved in chordates [4, 5]. These insights have allowed us to reprogram the identity of heterologous cell types to that of specific neuron types [7, 8]. Venturing into a little explored area of neuronal diversification, we have developed a novel paradigm to study asymmetry across the left/right axis [9, 10], by far the least understood axis in any nervous system, and identified a complex ...
OnAir Post: Hobert Lab – Columbia
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.
OnAir Post: Hannon Lab – CSHL
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.
OnAir Post: Jasanoff Lab – MIT
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.
OnAir Post: Desimone Laboratory – MIT
MIT Neuroscience Principal Investigator: Ed Boyden, Ph.D.
The Synthetic Neurobiology Group develops tools that enable the mapping of the molecules and wiring of the brain, the recording and control of its neural dynamics, and the repair of its dysfunction.The Group applies these to the systematic analysis of brain computations, aiming to reveal the fundamental mechanisms of brain function, and yielding new, ground-truth therapeutic strategies for neurological and psychiatric disorders.
Optogenetics: molecules enabling neural control by light. From SBG website.
Website: syntheticneurobiology.org/
E-mail: esb@media.mit.edu
Phone: (617) 324-3085
Address: Building E15: E15-421| 20 Ames St.| Cambridge, MA 02139
Tools for Cells and Circuits (RFA MH-14-216) Edwards S. Boyden, Director of the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Boyden’s team will simultaneously image both the identities and locations of multiple proteins within individual synapses – made possible by a new technique called DNA-PAINT.
DNA-PAINT super-resolution image of microtubules inside a fixed HeLa cell using Atto 655–labeled imager strands (10,000 frames, 10-Hz frame rate). Inset, labeling and imaging schematic for DNA-PAINT in a cellular environment. ...
OnAir Post: Synthetic Neurobiology Group – MIT
