Brain connects: center for mesoscale connectomics

Active Cooperative Agreement Awarded Last action

Award ID
UM1NS132207
Recipient
Awarding agency
Obligated
$15,647,168

Award facts

Completion date 63% complete
Place of performance
Minneapolis, MN 55455, USA

Award details come from USAspending.gov.

Description

As the agency reported it.

Abstract
To understand complex neural pathways and networks and their remarkable ability to generate human behaviors, IT is critical to precisely map brain connectomics in vivo. We propose to make significant advances in such brain mapping by founding the center for mesoscale connectomics (CMC). We will first map the mesoscale connections between the frontal and parietal cortices. These connections likely subserve higher-order functions such as attention, decision-making, prospection, and executive control. One key, underappreciated feature of cortical connectivity is its specific variations within a given brain region, further supporting the critical need for descriptions of connectivity at a finer scale. Unfortunately, there has traditionally been a major GAP in our pursuit of creating a human brain "wiring diagram" at high spatial resolution, especially since the gold standard for mesoscale brain connectivity, anatomical tract-tracing, cannot be performed in humans. Moreover, techniques that can be applied to humans, such as diffusion MRI tractography, may not recapitulate anatomical connectivity at this scale. Due to this GAP, we are lacking an accurate wiring diagram of the human brain that can only be obtained through a multi-modal, cross-species, multi-scale approach. Here, we propose to combine advanced anatomical tract-tracing (aim 1), polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) (aim 2), and ultra-high field diffusion tractography (aim 3) to create such accurate wiring diagrams of human and macaque brains while bridging spatial resolutions and species. Importantly, we will computationally bridge species, methods, and spatial scales via state-of-the art registration and joint (MULTIMODAL) modeling of fiber orientations. Subsequently, the remarkable amount of information available in each dataset will be further enhanced using optimized tractography methods. At the end of the proposed funding period, we expect to have complete maps of the mesoscale organization of fronto-parietal connections. We will be poised to apply our MULTIMODAL, cross-species methods brain-wide, including both cortical and subcortical circuits. Importantly, the foundation will be laid for computing noninvasive, in vivo, accurate, mesoscale connectivity maps of whole human brains through dmri tractography, which will allow researchers to link brain connectivity with cognition, behavior, and disease.

Transactions

Action Obligated Date
Amendment $490,518
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $2,500,000
Amendment $374,939
Amendment $2,500,000
Amendment $2,781,711
Amendment $0
Amendment $0
Amendment $3,500,000
Original award $3,500,000
Show all 16

Subawards

Subrecipient Amount Awarded
Subrecipient not on record Center for Mesoscale Connectomics: A Multimodal, Cross-species Approach $631,306
The Chancellor, Masters And Scholars Of The University Of Oxford $252,434

Quick answers

Who received award UM1NS132207?

UM1NS132207 was awarded to Regents Of The University Of Minnesota by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (National Institutes of Health) on September 15, 2023.

How much is award UM1NS132207 worth?

$15,647,168 has been obligated on UM1NS132207.

On GovTribe

See this award's full record

  • Every transaction and subaward
  • The recipient's other awards and teaming partners
  • Similar grant awards
  • Ask GovTribe AI about this award
Try for free Login