The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the nation’s medical research agency — making important discoveries that improve health and save lives.
This Grant Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) aims to support the development and proof-of-concept testing of new technologies and innovative approaches for recording and modulation of cellular and network activity in the central nervous system (CNS). The focus is on transformative methods that enable detailed understanding of dynamic signaling within the CNS. The grant encourages exceptionally creative solutions to overcome major challenges in recording and modulating CNS activity, achieving cellular resolution and covering various spatial/temporal scales and regions of the brain. Ideal research proposals are expected to be high-risk but with potential for significant impact on neuroscience. The technologies should be designed for use in behavioral experiments and validated in vivo, with a goal to ease major barriers in neurobiological research. There's an interest in technologies that can capture a variety of signaling types—beyond traditional neuronal electrical activity—including optical, magnetic, acoustic, and genetic recording/manipulation. Multi-disciplinary integration involving biological, chemical, physical sciences, engineering, computational modeling, and statistical analysis is encouraged to create comprehensive approaches.