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Terry,<BR>
<BR>
I think the issue for many of us was the avoidance of Neuroimaging methods, other than<BR>
to do research on new methods with better resolution (217). Clearly the Human Connectome<BR>
RFP and funded Groups are dominated with fMRI Resting state. While the brain initiative is<BR>
focused on celluar/circuit research. <BR>
<BR>
So prior to all the Jim emails.. it does seem there is there is a concern amoungst imagers why<BR>
the advisory group decided exclude neuroimaging.<BR>
<BR>
Steve<BR>
<BR>
<BR>
On Wed, 2014-01-29 at 17:06 -0800, Terry Sejnowski wrote:
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<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">There are some misconceptions about the BRAIN Initiative that seem to be </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">driving this discussion and some facts might help focus this issues.</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">The NIH advisory group issued an interim report that made recommendations </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">to the director of NIH, which was used to issue the RFAs for FY 2014:</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b"><A HREF="http://acd.od.nih.gov/presentations/BRAIN-Interim-Report.pdf">http://acd.od.nih.gov/presentations/BRAIN-Interim-Report.pdf</A></FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">See section 5 on Page 33:</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">"Theory, Modeling and Statistics Will Be Essential to</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">Understanding the Brain"</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">There are many oportunities for those on this list to contribute to the </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">BRAIN Initiative. Here are a few:</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">p. 32: 4. The Importance of Behavior</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">"High Priority Research Area for FY2014: Link Neuronal Activity to </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">Behavior. The clever use of virtual reality, machine learning, and </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">miniaturized recording devices has the potential to dramatically increase </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">our understanding of how neuronal activity underlies cognition and </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">behavior. This path can be enabled by developing technologies to quantify </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">and interpret animal behavior, at high temporal and spatial resolution, </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">reliably, objectively, over long periods of time, under a broad set of </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">conditions, and in combination with concurrent measurement and </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">manipulation of neuronal activity."</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">p. 35: New Statistical and Quantitative Approaches to New Kinds of Data </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">"As new kinds of data become available through advances in molecular </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">sensors and optical recording, equal effort must be expended to extract </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">maximum insight from these novel data sets. Data analytic and theoretical </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">problems are likely to emerge that we cannot anticipate at the present </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">time. Resources should be available for experts from essential disciplines </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">such as statistics, optimization, signal processing and machine learning </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">to develop new approaches to identifying and analyzing the relevant </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">signals."</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">p. 16: "The BRAIN Initiative will deliver transformative scientific tools </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">and methods that should accelerate all of basic neuroscience, </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">translational neuroscience, and direct disease studies, as well as biology </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">beyond neuroscience. It will deliver a foundation of knowledge about the </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">function of the normal brain, its cellular components, the wiring of its </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">circuits, its patterns of electrical activity at local and global scales, </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">the causes and effects of those activity patterns, and the expression of </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">brain activity in behavior. Through the interaction of experiment and </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">theory, the BRAIN Initiative should elucidate the computational logic as </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">well as the specific mechanisms of brain function at different spatial and </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">temporal scales, defining the connections between molecules, neurons, </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">circuits, activity, and behavior."</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">p. 5: Recomendation #1. Generate a Census of Cell Types. We do not know </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">how many types of neurons and glia there are. Two neurons with the same </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">morphology could project to different areas and have different functions. </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">Classification of cell types will depend on analyzing the high-dimensional </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">transcriptome and proteome of single cells and combining this with </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">anatomical and physiolgical data. Why is this important? Experimenters </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">need to label and manipulate each cell type to discover its function. </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">There are deep issues of what constitutes cell identity that need to be </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">settled, which will depend on analyzing the distribution of heterogeneous </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">data in high-dimensional spaces.</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">p. 50 8d. Establish Platforms for Sharing Data</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">The goal of the BRAIN Initiative is not to create big data sets. This is </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">already happening in neuroscience, as it is in every area of science. One </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">of the recommendations is to make it easier for neuroscientists to share </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">their data so others can analyze them.</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">This is an interim report. The final report, due in June 2014, will have </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">more specific priorities, milestones and goals for each of the </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">recommendations.</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">Note also that there are 3 agencies involved in the BRAIN Initiative. </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">NSF has not yet announced its program. DARPA has announced 2 BAAs:</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b"><A HREF="http://www.cccblog.org/2013/12/02/darpa-announces-two-programs-as-part-of-white-house-brain-initiative/">http://www.cccblog.org/2013/12/02/darpa-announces-two-programs-as-part-of-white-house-brain-initiative/</A></FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">Finally, new money for the BRAIN Initiative was set aside in the budget </FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">that was recently passed by Congress.</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">Terry</FONT>
<FONT COLOR="#382b1b">-----</FONT>
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-- <BR>
Stephen José Hanson<BR>
Director RUBIC (Rutgers Brain Imaging Center)<BR>
Professor of Psychology<BR>
Member of Cognitive Science Center (NB)<BR>
Member EE Graduate Program (NB)<BR>
Member CS Graduate Program (NB)<BR>
Rutgers University
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email: jose@psychology.rutgers.edu
web: psychology.rutgers.edu/~jose
lab: www.rumba.rutgers.edu
fax: 866-434-7959
voice: 973-353-3313 (RUBIC)
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