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Video series: New strategies address one of science's greatest mysteries

Neurons of a mouse brain

As part of The BRAIN Initiative, the National Science Foundation (NSF) funds efforts to help catch circuits in action.In 2014, NSF awarded a total of $10.8 million to 36 brain research projects. These awards, which each provide $300,000 over two years, are called Early Concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER). They are part of NSF's broader efforts to understand the healthy brain. This images show the neuronal network of a mouse brain. The colors of the neurons correspond to levels of neural activity.

Credit: Parijat Sengupta, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


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The tiny roundworm (C. elegans) is an important animal for brain research. It is transparent, so its neurons can be seen through a microscope. And its simple nervous system consists of just 302 neurons. Plus, the roundworm matures from an egg to an egg-laying adult in two days. Harvard University's Aravinthan Samuel will exploit all these benefits to document, for the first time, all behaviors and neural activities simultaneously demonstrated by an individual animal--a roundworm--as it matures from birth to adulthood. This project will shed light on the parallel development of brain circuits and behavior.

Credit: NSF

 

Researchers all over the world use a technology called optogenetics, which allows them to turn neurons on and off in living laboratory organisms, by exposing them to certain types of light. Stephen Boppart of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign wants to expand optogenetics even further. His project involves developing new physics-based techniques, to improve control over those beams of light. This would enable researchers to activate circuits of neurons with greater resolution and spatial specificity than ever before, laying the foundation for new types of brain research on how circuits produce behavior and cognition.

Credit: NSF

 

Dopamine is a special chemical, neurologically speaking. The neurotransmitter is crucial for decision-making, learning, movement and more. Scientists know that varying dopamine levels affect neurons, but don't yet have a method to measure exactly how. Michael Heien and Stephen Cowen from the University of Arizona are developing a tool that will simultaneously measure dopamine release and the activity of groups of neurons. The technology will help provide a real-time picture of how dopamine affects abilities such as motor control and learning.

Credit: NSF

 

What goes into fruit fly courtship? It might seem like an odd question, but understanding its neural underpinnings--and studying the male-female interactions at the milliscale level--could help us better understand the complexities of social behavior. A Princeton University team--neuroscientist Mala Murthy and physicists William Bialek and Joshua Shaevitz--will stimulate recordings from individual neurons as the fruit flies (Drosophila) conduct complex courtship behaviors. They will also develop mathematical models that predict the dynamics of interactive behavior.

Credit: NSF

 

Compare a boxy 1980s TV to the sleek high-definition TVs of today: That's a 25-fold difference. Spencer Smith's microscope is a 100-fold difference over the microscopes used today. Smith, of the University of North Carolina's School of Medicine, and his team developed the new microscope, which can simultaneously view individual neurons firing in two or more brain regions of a moving laboratory animal. The microscope will enable researchers to see how different areas of the brain work together to process information.

Credit: NSF

 

Signaling across synapses -- the tiny gaps between neurons, over a thousand times thinner than a sheet of paper -- requires multiple molecules to work together. To learn how neurons communicate, and ensure they pass across the synapses at the right pace and time, Nancy Xu of Old Dominion University and her team are developing new imaging tools and nanotechnology. These tools provide enhanced resolution and may lead to new insights about the role of abnormal signaling involved in brain diseases, injuries and drug addiction.

Credit: NSF


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