USC brain cell study receives $19 million grant

The National Institute of Health’s BRAIN Initiative (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) gave $19 million to the Keck School of Medicine’s Mark and Mary Stevens Neuroimaging and Informatics Institute to help create a brain cell classification system, according to USC News.

Their research will aid in understanding the human brain at a cellular level and gain insight into how brain cells and their interactions with each other aid brain function.

“Once we know how these neurons interrelate, it will facilitate our understanding of what goes wrong in various diseases,” assistant research neurology professor Houri Hintiryan told USC News.

Specifically, the neuroimaging institute’s research focuses on the anatomy of mouse brains, cataloging different types of mice brain cells based on how they connect with other cells in the brain, and what structures they form with each other, according to USC News.

The BRAIN Initiative is a broader project launched by former President Barack Obama, which brings together federal agencies with private research institutions, like USC, to help revolutionize the study of the human brain, according to the BRAIN Initiative website.

The USC team is joining the initiative’s Cell Census Network Consortium, a five-year collaboration with a specific focus on identifying and classifying brain cells, USC News said. Although the USC team is focusing on anatomy and structure, other teams in the consortium are tackling the classification through other angles, such as cell function and molecular properties.