The NIH has released its interim report on the Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative (see IBO 4/15/13). Prepared by an Advisory Committee to the Director working group, the report is based on consultations with the scientific community and public workshops. It identified six themes: appropriate experimental systems and models; cross boundaries in interdisciplinary collaborations; integrated spatial and temporal scales; platforms for sharing data; the validation and dissemination of technology; and the ethical limitations of neuroscience research. The report also identified the nine high priority research areas that will be the focus of the NIH’s fiscal 2014 investment in the Initiative: generate a census of cell types; create structural maps of the brain; develop new large-scale network recording capabilities; develop a suite of tools for circuit manipulation; link neuronal activity to behavior; integrate theory, modeling, statistics and computation with experimentation; delineate mechanisms underlying human imaging technologies; create mechanisms to enable the collection of human data; and disseminate knowledge and training. A final report will be released in 2014.

Source: NIH