scholarly journals What cell biologists should know about the National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative

2015 ◽  
Vol 26 (25) ◽  
pp. 4539-4540
Author(s):  
Thomas R. Insel ◽  
Walter Koroshetz
Keyword(s):  
Brain Research ◽  
National Institutes Of Health ◽  
Next Generation ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Leading Role ◽  
Cell Diversity ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Circuit Function ◽  
The Brain

The BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative is an ambitious project to develop innovative tools for a deeper understanding of how the brain functions in health and disease. Early programs in the National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative focus on tools for next-generation imaging and recording, studies of cell diversity and cell census, and integrative approaches to circuit function. In all of these efforts, cell biologists can play a leading role.

Integrating ethics into neurotechnology research and development: The US National Institutes of Health BRAIN Initiative®

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khara M. Ramos ◽  
Walter J. Koroshetz
Keyword(s):  
Brain Research ◽  
National Institutes Of Health ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
The Us ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Guidance Documents ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Integrating Ethics ◽  
The Brain

The US-based Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative® is focused on developing new tools and neurotechnologies to revolutionize the understanding of how the brain functions in health and disease. Powerful technological advances will enable unprecedented studies of the nervous system that pose new ethical questions. In response, and building on existing neuroethics scholarship and analysis, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) has created a Neuroethics Division as part of its BRAIN Multi-Council Working Group. The division members are delivering guidance documents for pertinent topics, recommendations for high-priority neuroethics research questions, providing neuroethics expertise to BRAIN Initiative® investigators, and holding workshops on some of the most pressing issues. This chapter discusses this major initiative and its implications for the future of neuroethics and new opportunities for action and collaboration.

scholarly journals The restless brain: how intrinsic activity organizes brain function

2015 ◽  
Vol 370 (1668) ◽  
pp. 20140172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus E. Raichle
Keyword(s):  
Brain Function ◽  
Functional Organization ◽  
Sensory Information ◽  
Intrinsic Activity ◽  
Systems Neuroscience ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Molecular Neuroscience ◽  
Constant State ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
The Brain

Traditionally studies of brain function have focused on task-evoked responses. By their very nature such experiments tacitly encourage a reflexive view of brain function. While such an approach has been remarkably productive at all levels of neuroscience, it ignores the alternative possibility that brain functions are mainly intrinsic and ongoing, involving information processing for interpreting, responding to and predicting environmental demands. I suggest that the latter view best captures the essence of brain function, a position that accords well with the allocation of the brain's energy resources, its limited access to sensory information and a dynamic, intrinsic functional organization. The nature of this intrinsic activity, which exhibits a surprising level of organization with dimensions of both space and time, is revealed in the ongoing activity of the brain and its metabolism. As we look to the future, understanding the nature of this intrinsic activity will require integrating knowledge from cognitive and systems neuroscience with cellular and molecular neuroscience where ion channels, receptors, components of signal transduction and metabolic pathways are all in a constant state of flux. The reward for doing so will be a much better understanding of human behaviour in health and disease.

scholarly journals Nanotechnology for the Brain

2014 ◽  
Vol 136 (01) ◽  
pp. 30-35
Author(s):  
Alan S. Brown
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
European Union ◽  
Electrical Activity ◽  
Brain Research ◽  
The United States ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
National Institutes Of Health ◽  
Nanowire Arrays ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Brain

This article explores various nanotechnology-based programs conducted by different teams to study the brain. In the United States, the National Institutes of Health is leading the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, a public–private program that will spend millions on research. The European Union has also proposed a similar effort that will focus on simulating the entire brain on supercomputers. Hongkun Park is developing nanowire arrays that can inject neurons with chemicals or measure electrical activity as it develops in the cell. Weiss and Anne Andrews, a professor of psychiatry at UCLA, have developed sensors that detect the important neurotransmitter, serotonin, by engineering surfaces that bond with it exclusively and not with related molecules. The next step is to create transducers that signal when sensors capture a serotonin molecule. Nanotechnology will play a vital role in that advance.

scholarly journals Neurogenetic and Neuroepigenetic Mechanisms in Cognitive Health and Disease

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davide Martino Coda ◽  
Johannes Gräff
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Molecular Mechanisms ◽  
Disease Risk ◽  
Phenotypic Variability ◽  
Complete Understanding ◽  
Brain Functioning ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Neuronal Processes ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
The Brain

Over the last two decades, the explosion of experimental, computational, and high-throughput technologies has led to critical insights into how the brain functions in health and disease. It has become increasingly clear that the vast majority of brain activities result from the complex entanglement of genetic factors, epigenetic changes, and environmental stimuli, which, when altered, can lead to neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Nevertheless, a complete understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying neuronal activities and higher-order cognitive processes continues to elude neuroscientists. Here, we provide a concise overview of how the interaction between the environment and genetic as well as epigenetic mechanisms shapes complex neuronal processes such as learning, memory, and synaptic plasticity. We then consider how this interaction contributes to the development of neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders, and how it can be modeled to predict phenotypic variability and disease risk. Finally, we outline new frontiers in neurogenetic and neuroepigenetic research and highlight the challenges these fields will face in their quest to decipher the molecular mechanisms governing brain functioning.

scholarly journals Special Interest Group for Neuroscience in Psychiatry

1996 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 304-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guy M. Goodwin
Keyword(s):  
Interest Group ◽  
Special Interest ◽  
Special Interest Group ◽  
Inaugural Meeting ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
The Core ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
The Brain

The inaugural meeting of a Special Interest Group for Neuroscience in Psychiatry was held at the meeting of the College in Glasgow in 1995, chaired by Professor Stuart Checkley.The following statement has been prepared for the group to announce its existence and stimulate discussion of its aims. The mission of the group will be to promote the application of neuroscience to the core problems of aetiology and treatment in psychiatry. The term neuroscience encapsulates those aspects of anatomy, physiology, pharmacology, genetics and psychology which contribute mutually to an improved understanding of how the brain functions in health and disease.

scholarly journals A luciferase prosubstrate and a red bioluminescent calcium indicator to image neuronal activity

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaodong Tian ◽  
Yiyu Zhang ◽  
Xinyu Li ◽  
Ying Xiong ◽  
Tianchen Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neuronal Activity ◽  
Nonspecific Esterase ◽  
New Paradigm ◽  
Fluorescent Indicators ◽  
Neuronal Ensembles ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Calcium Indicator ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
The Brain

AbstractGenetically encoded fluorescent indicators have been broadly used to monitor neuronal activity in live animals, but invasive surgical procedures are required. This study presents a functional bioluminescence imaging (fBLI) method for recording the activity of neuronal ensembles in the brain in awake mice. We developed a luciferase prosubstrate activatable in vivo by nonspecific esterase to enhance the brain delivery of the luciferin. We further engineered a bright, bioluminescent indicator with robust responsiveness to calcium ions (Ca2+) and appreciable emission above 600 nm. Integration of these advantageous components enabled the imaging of Ca2+ dynamics in awake mice minimally invasively with excellent signal- to-background and subsecond temporal resolution. This study thus establishes a new paradigm for studying brain functions in health and disease.

The gut-brain axis: microglia in the spotlight

Neuroforum ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charlotte Mezö ◽  
Omar Mossad ◽  
Daniel Erny ◽  
Thomas Blank
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Gut Microbiota ◽  
Immune Cells ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Microbiome Research ◽  
The Central Nervous System ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
The Brain

Summary Microbiome research has grown significantly in the last decade, highlighting manifold implications of the microbiota to the host’s health. The gut microbiota is connected to the brain through several avenues that allow their interaction. Thus, recent studies have attemtpted to characterize these connections and enhance our understanding of the so called ‘gut-brain-axis’. Microglia, the central nervous system resident macrophages, are crucial for the proper development and maintenance of brain functions. As immune cells, they are in the spotlight for relaying signals between the microbiota and cells of the brain. In this review, we contemplate on interactions between the gut microbiota and microglia, and their influence on brain functions in health and disease.

scholarly journals Functional imaging in neurosciences

2015 ◽  
Vol 02 (03) ◽  
pp. 240-245
Author(s):  
Sriganesh Kamath ◽  
G Umamaheswara Rao
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Resonance Imaging ◽  
Functional Imaging ◽  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Imaging Techniques ◽  
Functional Magnetic Resonance ◽  
Resonance Imaging ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Neurological Conditions ◽  
The Brain

AbstractRecent advances in functional imaging of the brain have enabled a better understanding of the brain functions in health and disease. Amongst various functional imaging techniques, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has been more rigorously employed in both clinical practice and in the research arena. This review will discuss the principles and techniques of fMRI, its role in understanding the pathophysiology of brain injury and finally, its clinical application in diagnosing neurological conditions and prognostication of outcome in patients with neurological disorders.

scholarly journals Meninges: A Widespread Niche of Neural Progenitors for the Brain

2020 ◽  
pp. 107385842095482
Author(s):  
Ilaria Decimo ◽  
Sissi Dolci ◽  
Gabriella Panuccio ◽  
Marco Riva ◽  
Guido Fumagalli ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cortical Neurons ◽  
Mammalian Species ◽  
Neural Progenitors ◽  
Trophic Factors ◽  
Neural Cells ◽  
Brain Functions ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Cell Niche ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Brain

Emerging evidence highlights the several roles that meninges play in relevant brain functions as they are a protective membrane for the brain, produce and release several trophic factors important for neural cell migration and survival, control cerebrospinal fluid dynamics, and embrace numerous immune interactions affecting neural parenchymal functions. Furthermore, different groups have identified subsets of neural progenitors residing in the meninges during development and in the adulthood in different mammalian species, including humans. Interestingly, these immature neural cells are able to migrate from the meninges to the neural parenchyma and differentiate into functional cortical neurons or oligodendrocytes. Immature neural cells residing in the meninges promptly react to brain disease. Injury-induced expansion and migration of meningeal neural progenitors have been observed following experimental demyelination, traumatic spinal cord and brain injury, amygdala lesion, stroke, and progressive ataxia. In this review, we summarize data on the function of meninges as stem cell niche and on the presence of immature neural cells in the meninges, and discuss their roles in brain health and disease. Furthermore, we consider the potential exploitation of meningeal neural progenitors for the regenerative medicine to treat neurological disorders.

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