Funded Projects

Understanding how the brain drives behavior is a key goal of neuroscience. Traditionally, the field has focused on simple behaviors, but recent research is shifting towards more naturalistic paradigms, such as navigation and foraging. This opens up exciting possibilities for studying natural behaviors and uncovering the neural mechanisms underlying them.

Depression affects over 300 million people worldwide, yet current treatments are often based on trial-and-error, with only one-third of patients improving with their first medication. Our team has developed EEG-IntraMap, an innovative software platform that transforms standard EEG recordings into precise measurements of deep brain activity. 

Achieving proficiency in a specific task requires persistent practice and training. One of the most intriguing questions in neuroscience asks how such continuous engagement enables the brain to remember and retain new skills or memories effectively.

Neurons are cells that electrically transmit information about our surroundings to the brain, process that information in the brain, and transmit instructions for action to the rest of the body. Just like electrical cables, they are long and thin. To function properly, a neuron must move nutrients, waste, and organelles along its length.

Despite advancements in cancer treatment, the prognosis for brain cancer patients remains poor. Glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive type of brain tumor, is driven by genetic mutations and overexpression of growth-promoting receptors.

The brain relies on Progranulin, a pivotal protein, to function smoothly and maintain overall health. When Progranulin fails to perform its essential functions, it can trigger severe neurological issues. In children, a complete malfunction of Progranulin can result in Batten disease, a devastating condition characterized by rapid neurological decline.

Temperature is a significant factor that impacts all living organisms’ behavior and physiology. With climate change driving significant shifts in environmental temperatures, it is crucial to understand the mechanism by which animals adjust their behaviors to cope with these changes.

Controlling brain activity using chemicals and drugs is instrumental in neuroscience research, but current delivery methods for these compounds are imprecise. A proposed synthetic neural interface will allow for more controlled chemical and drug release by using ultrasound to precisely penetrate neural tissue.

This team aims to use the power of artificial intelligence to make new findings about brain aging, with the goal of boosting brain repair and resilience. They are particularly interested in spatial changes in the brain during aging. Their goal is to understand how aging renders the brain susceptible to injuries that accentuate neurodegenerative diseases.

This team has developed a new therapy for patients with spinal cord injury, involving injection into the spinal cord of patient-derived stem cells within an engineered protective gel. They will use their Neuroscience:Translate award to further test and develop this novel therapy in preparation for first-in-human clinical trials. 

This team will use their Koret pilot grant award to study if language difficulties in children with epilepsy are caused by excessive connectivity in the brain. The team previously found that elevated connectivity is associated with poorer language, and that inhibitory transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) can reduce connectivity.

Pediatric high-grade gliomas (pHGGs) carry a poor prognosis with limited therapeutic options. This is in part due to the highly invasive behavior of malignant glioma cells, which infiltrate into normal brain parenchyma where they are inaccessible to surgical intervention and are poised to drive tumor recurrences.

This project is focused on developing EEG-based measures of cognitive control and conflict processing in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). OCD is characterized by recurrent, intrusive, and distressing thoughts, and patients are often limited by rigid, inflexible behavioral routines as well as poor clinical insight into their illness.

The immune system is subjected to neuroendocrine regulation and control by the brain. One such example is the induction of glucocorticoid (GC) in infectious diseases. GC is synthesized and released by the adrenal glands via the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal gland (HPA) axis which is initiated from the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN).