BRAIN Initiative: Development and Validation of Novel Tools and New Approaches for Neuroscience Research

Presenter

Eunyoung Kim, Ph.D.
Division of Data Science and Technology (DST)

Goal

The Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative plans to continue supporting the development of innovative and transformative neurotechnology tools and approaches that enable the interrogation of cell- and circuit-specific processes in the central nervous system with greater specificity and higher cellular resolution. This concept supports a broad developmental spectrum, from early-stage, high-risk concepts and untested ideas to the optimization of existing technologies with strong potential for widespread adoption.

Rationale

Currently, two major lines of tool development are ongoing under the BRAIN Initiative. One major line of investigation supports the development of novel tools and technologies to characterize, define, and access cell types, circuits, and cellular components in the nervous system with greater selectivity and sensitivity, including molecular approaches for brain cell type characterization, tools for circuit mapping, precise methods for altering neuronal function, and improved sensors for imaging and monitoring activity. The second major line of investigation is the development of new technologies to record and modulate neural cells and circuits across a range of modalities, enabling more precise measurement and manipulation of dynamic signaling and circuit function in the central nervous system. These efforts have been highly successful in driving the development of transformative tools and technologies that have fundamentally expanded researchers’ ability to interrogate the nervous system, revealing brain mechanisms and function with unprecedented precision, sensitivity, and resolution. However, as science and technology evolve, the distinctions among these programs have become increasingly blurred, with many emerging technologies now spanning multiple tool domains and stages of development.

Therefore, this concept supports a more unified and strategic program with a clearer vision and priority to better support emerging tool needs that cut across existing program boundaries. This approach would foster greater coordination, synergy, and resource sharing, while providing the research community with a clear single-entry point for projects at different stages of maturity. In addition, by strengthening the continuum from early stage concepts to broadly adopted technologies, consolidation would enhance the efficiency, coherence, and overall impact of this program, expand access to powerful new tools across the broader research community, and accelerate discoveries that deepen our understanding of human brain function and behavior.