Project description
Thinking about the brain’s dynamic rhythms
Understanding spontaneous brain activity, the most metabolically demanding process of the human brain, remains a major scientific challenge. Although human neuroimaging can map dynamic patterns of brain activity with increasing precision, little is known about the origins, function, and organisation of these processes. This gap in knowledge limits advancements in neuroscience and the development of therapies for cognitive and attention-related disorders. The ERC-funded BRAINAMICS project explores the physiological mechanisms and principles governing spontaneous brain network dynamics (BND). Using a research platform that integrates advanced manipulations and recordings in alert mice, the project will explore how BND operates and responds to both synthetic and natural neuromodulatory processes. This research promises breakthroughs in understanding brain function.
Objective
"Spontaneous brain activity, the most expensive metabolic process of the human brain, is highly dynamic and continually evolves over timescales of seconds. Human neuroimaging has made it possible to map dynamic patterns of spontaneous network activity with increasing precision. However, our understanding of the origin, function and organization of this phenomenon remains alarmingly limited. This project aims to elucidate the physiological mechanisms and operational principles that govern spontaneous network dynamics (termed here ""brain network dynamics"" - BND). To achieve these goals, I will establish an integrated research platform that combines advanced manipulations and recordings of BND in the awake mouse brain. To comprehensively probe the mechanisms that operate BND, I will carry out two complementary sets of causal manipulations that are conceptualized as exogenous or endogenous neuromodulation, depending on whether they encompass synthetic (optogenetically generated, Aim 1) or intrinsic (neurotransmitter related, Aim 2) modulatory mechanisms, respectively. Using this approach, I will (a) uncover the rhythms that causally sustain BND, and establish how BND causally responds to (and can be controlled by) mechanistically-precise exogenous neuromodulation; (b) empirically test the hypothesis that cholinergic and noradrenergic transmission cooperatively control the intrinsic organization of BND, as well the selective engagement of higher-order cortical systems relevant for attention and cognition. Crucially, multiscale network activity will be theoretically linked to dynamical regimes (brain states) of translational relevance via quantitative analyses. This research will address fundamental questions regarding the neural mechanisms governing BND and the possibility of controlling its organization via targeted exogenous modulation, with important implications for basic, theoretical and translational neuroscience."
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
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CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
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Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-ERC - HORIZON ERC Grants
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) ERC-2023-COG
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16163 Genova
Italy
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