Neuroimaging Technologies Across Scales | BRAIN

BRAIN Initiative Connectivity Across Scales

The BRAIN Initiative Connectivity across Scales (BRAIN CONNECTS) program is a coordinated effort to develop technical capabilities and research capacity for mapping neural connections across entire mammalian brains. Projects bring together multidisciplinary teams tasked with developing technologies and establishing pipelines for accurate, scalable, and cost-effective mapping of neural connectivity in human, non-human primate, and mouse brains. Currently supported research programs include Comprehensive Centers that build end-to-end data production pipelines, Specialized Projects that develop and optimize scalable mapping technologies, and Data Coordinating Centers that support network-wide collaboration, data integration, and dissemination. Supported projects are developing new tools and approaches for neural connectivity mapping across scales, generating large proof-of-concept datasets, and creating tools and infrastructure to integrate data across modalities and share data and knowledge with the broader research community. All funded efforts are coordinated through the BRAIN CONNECTS Network to promote collaboration, standardization, and broad data access. Generation of large-scale wiring diagrams will inform functional studies of neural circuits, including those modeling human diseases, and facilitate the development of novel, non-deterministic brain-inspired computer architectures.

BRAIN CONNECTS is one of three NIH BRAIN Initiative transformative projects outlined in The BRAIN Initiative® 2.0: From Cells to Circuits, Toward Cures report. Together with the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network (BICAN) and the Armamentarium for Precision Brain Cell Access, these large-scale projects promise to transform neuroscience research, illuminating foundational principles governing the circuit basis of behavior and informing new approaches to the treatment of human brain disorders.