Browse wide-ranging research at the frontiers of neuroscience supported by Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute grants, awards, and training fellowships.
Projects
Restoring multi-limb motion in people with paralysis via brain-computer interface
Intracortical brain-computer interfaces (iBCIs) can restore lost communication and motor function for people with severe speech and motor impairment due to neurological injury or disease. iBCIs measure neural activity from the brain, decode this activity into control signals, and use these signals to guide prosthetic devices such as computer cursors and prosthetic arms.
Assessing the generalizability of individual brain models
Cognitive neuroscience has traditionally focused on identifying the neural basis of psychological traits or state effects across large samples of participants. Recently, researchers have pushed towards providing more precise estimates of individual functional organization to better understand both psychological constructs as well as their supporting neural mechanisms.
Next-generation brain imaging in freely moving animals
Calcium imaging in freely behaving animals allows for the tracking of neuronal activity under approximately normal behavioral conditions. However, the slow response time of calcium imaging inhibits high resolution voltage and temporal measurements. To address this issue, modern molecular tools have been developed to optically report the high-speed dynamics of neurons more accurately.
Optogenetic screening of the gut-brain axis via an internal light source
The gut-brain axis is implicated in many essential physiological and psychological functions, ranging from feeding, emotion, motivation, to memory. As a critical component of the gut-brain axis, vagal sensory neurons exhibit distinct projection patterns to target specific visceral organs.
Structural analysis of chloride channel CLC-2
Membrane transport proteins are essential for life. They transport essential nutrients and minerals across the membrane barrier that surrounds each cell in the human body. This transport is necessary for every living process – from eating and breathing to learning and doing daily work.
Predicting and promoting resilient brain aging trajectories
Using new animal models such as the African killifish, this team aims to develop approaches to predict individual brain aging trajectories early in life based on behaviors that can be modulated to promote healthy memory, executive function and processing speed as well as counter dementia.
Resilience to Synaptic Impairments in Neurodegenerative Disorders
This team will explore the idea that neurotoxic protein aggregates seen in neurodegenerative disorders act at the synaptic connections between cells, and that resilience against these disorders may come from natural synapse-supporting factors that could be transformed into new forms of therapy.
Preserving motor engrams in Parkinson's disease: Neural circuit and transcriptomic studies and strategies for resilient motor control
This team aims to better understand how Parkinson's disease attacks the brain's basic motor programs and to spawn novel therapies against the disease using gene-editing technology.
Mitochondrial DNA and Brain Resilience
This team proposes the first comprehensive study of how mitochondrial DNA is related to cognitive function and susceptibility to dementia in a diverse population of over 11,000 adults. The outcomes of this study will provide insight into possible racial disparities in brain health.
Sleep circuits in neurodegenerative disease and aging
This team plans to study whether changes in neurons in the midbrain that regulate sleep, wakefulness, and immunity could contribute to aging and neurodegeneration. If successful, this information could rescue deficits in sleep and restore a normal immune profile.
Defining the Subcellular Biology of Brain Aging and Neurodegeneration
This team plans to map how age-related dysfunction of cellular waste disposal in lysosomes could lead to neurodegenerative diseases, potentially laying the foundation for a map of organelle function in the brain.
Unlocking brain resilience with HDAC inhibition
This team aims to define a network of genes that contribute to stress resistance in neurons and identify how it could be activated to enhance brain resilience and protect against neurodegenerative disease.
Endocannabinoid metabolism as a driver of brain aging
This team aims to discover whether the brain’s endocannabinoid system is dysregulated during aging, triggering inflammation via molecules called prostaglandins. If so, a drug that decouples these systems might restore a youthful brain state and rescue cognitive function.
Characterizing the Genetic Architecture of Neuropathology with Machine Learning
This team will study the brains of individuals who lived past ninety with their cognitive function intact, using advanced tissue imaging and computer science to understand mechanisms of resilience that could slow neurodegeneration and preserve brain health.