Browse wide-ranging research at the frontiers of neuroscience supported by Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute grants, awards, and training fellowships.
Projects
Characterizing large-scale neural circuit dynamics over long-term recordings
Neural circuits can exhibit remarkable stability (e.g., when supporting long-term memory) as well as flexibility (e.g., when supporting rapid learning).
Identifying the neurobiological underpinnings of meta-learning
Meta-learning, an old concept in psychology, is the ability of humans to improve the way they learn with experience. Our previous experience of learning a skill makes us better at learning another, related skill. For instance, an athlete will learn a new sport faster than someone without the same level of experience in similar learning tasks.
Reprogramming organismal lifespan through modulation of neuropeptidergic circuits
Aging is the number one risk factor for debilitating diseases such as neurodegeneration. Can manipulation of neurons in the brain alter the body’s physiological state to extend lifespan? Neuropeptides are key modulators of short-term homeostasis such as feeding, temperature, and sleep.
Targeting DNA repair for neuroinflammation in stroke
The wearable ENG: A dizzy attack event monitor
PTS glove passive tactile stimulation for stroke rehab - Renewal
This team is developing wearable stimulation devices to improve limb function after stroke. The technology includes a tactile stimulation method, and the wireless, lightweight, and low-cost wearable computing devices to apply this stimulation.
CPStim: Optimized non-invasive brain stimulation for chronic pain
Deep learning for automated seizure localization
How do Schwann cells sort and myelinate axons in the developing peripheral nervous system?
Schwann cells (SCs) sort and myelinate peripheral axons, and impairments in either process can cause long-term disability. There are no therapeutic strategies for targeting SC dysfunction, underscoring the need to investigate mechanisms of sorting and myelination. Both processes require highly motile SC cytoplasmic protrusions, but the basis of this motility is unclear.
Magnetic Resonance Imaging of Epileptogenesis
Absence epilepsy is a form of pediatric epilepsy which causes seizures with brief lapses in awareness. Electron microscopy results in a murine model of absence epilepsy support the hypothesis that maladaptive myelination plays a role in disease progression.
Neuronal mechanism underlying spatial navigation in cephalopods
Cephalopods, including the cuttlefish, octopus, and squid, possess one of the most advanced nervous systems among invertebrates. With their advanced nervous systems, cephalopods are able to perform sophisticated behaviors such as navigating in open water to search for food. Yet how their nervous systems accomplish spatial navigation remains completely unknown.
Dissecting curious exploration with self-supervised machine learning
What are the principles that guide curiosity-based exploration? What is the neural circuitry that implements curiosity? How can insights related to the phenomenon of curiosity improve the education and capabilities of humans and artificially intelligent agents? To address these questions, Isaac Kauvar will take an interdisciplinary approach — positioned at the intersection of computer science, neuroscience, and psychology.
Wearable stimulation for sensorimotor rehabilitation
Vibrotactile stimulation provides powerful somatosensory and proprioceptive input to the nervous system.
The role of gene complexity in the evolution and function of nervous systems
Many of the largest, most complex genes in the genome are enriched in the brain and are frequently mutated or misregulated in neurological diseases and disorders such as Alzheimer's disease, autism spectrum disorders, and Rett syndrome.
Genetic access of cell types using viral vectors
Multicellular organisms consist of numerous cell types with specialized biological functions. To understand such complex biological systems, genetic access to each cell type is needed for functional analysis and manipulations.
Mechanisms of myelin membrane expansion
Myelin is the protective covering that surrounds nerve fibers to accelerate communication between different parts of the nervous system. Damage to myelin occurs in diseases such as multiple sclerosis, which compromises nerve signaling and impairs motor and cognitive function.
The wearable ENG: a dizzy attack event monitor, Dizzy DX - Renewal
Optimization of the African killifish platform for rapid drug screening for aggregate based neurodegenerative diseases
Rapid and automated educational assessment through the web browser
Remote reliable measurements of movement using a Bluetooth enabled engineered keyboard solve an unmet need in neurological diseases
This team is developing a device that will enable accurate diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease via telemedicine. They initially introduced the technology of Quantitative DigitoGraphy (QDG) using a repetitive alternating finger tapping (RAFT) task on a musical instrument digital interface (MIDI) keyboard and will use Neuroscience: Translate funding for the next stage of device development.
Extracochlear neurostimulation - Auricle
Sensorineural hearing loss is an increasingly prevalent condition that causes disability to over a third of US adults aged over 65. We are developing a breakthrough device to restore high-frequency hearing that preserves residual hearing through a reversible and minimally invasive approach.
A minimally-invasive intracranial pressure microsensor (mICP) for long-term, continuous ambulatory monitoring
Stanford Brain Organogenesis Program (Phase 2)
Developing brain organoids and assembloids – three dimensional brain tissues grown in the lab – to study human brain development, evolution and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Neuro-Omics Initiative (Phase 2)
Creating new tools to help neuroscientists bridge the study of genes and proteins operating in the brain to the study of brain circuits and systems, which could lead to a deeper understanding of brain function and disease.