Some news today about the federal BRAIN Initiative - a major research plan aimed at revolutionizing our understanding of the human brain. (Stanford neurologist William Newsome, PhD, is co-chair of the initiative.) Francis Collins, MD, PhD, director of the National Institutes of Health, today heard and accepted a working group's recommendations for the initiative's budget and long-term scientific vision.
As outlined in an NIH release:
The report drafted by the ACD BRAIN Working Group maps out a sustained commitment of $4.5 billion in new federal funding over 10 years beginning in fiscal year 2016 to achieve seven primary goals. NIH already announced an investment of $40 million in fiscal year 2014 and President Obama has made a request for $100 million for NIH’s component of the initiative in his fiscal year 2015 budget.
The NIH efforts on the BRAIN Initiative will seek to map the circuits of the brain, measure the fluctuating patterns of electrical and chemical activity flowing within those circuits, and understand how their interplay creates our unique cognitive and behavioral capabilities.
Collins called the recommendations "bold and game changing" and noted, “As the Human Genome Project did with precision medicine, the BRAIN Initiative promises to transform the way we prevent and treat devastating brain diseases and disorders while also spurring economic development.”
Previously: NIH announces focus of funding for BRAIN initiative, BRAIN Initiative and the Human Brain Project: Aiming to understand how the brain works, Brain’s gain: Stanford neuroscientist discusses two major new initiatives, Co-leader of Obama’s BRAIN Initiative to direct Stanford’s interdisciplinary neuroscience institute, Experts weigh in on the new BRAIN Initiative and A federal push to further brain research
Photo, of April 2013 announcement of BRAIN Initiative, from the National Institutes of Health
