BRAIN EAGER: Multiscale dynamics and emergent properties of suprachiasmatic circuits in real time

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This award is being made jointly by the Neural Systems Cluster in the Division of Integrative and Organismal Systems and the Instrument Development for Biological Research program (IDBR) in the Division of Biological Infrastructure. Understanding how the brain enables us to think, act, learn, and remember is challenging. Progress has been impeded by lack of a dynamic picture of interactions and properties that emerge when tiers of interconnected brain cells (neurons) are activated in response to experiences. These interactions cause changes in our behaviors and can affect subsequent activities of these neurons, a process called plasticity. This proposal will develop and use newly created, complementary technologies that will non-invasively control, measure, and analyze brain network dynamics and change in real time. Neuroscientists, engineers, and chemists from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign will work together, each bringing cutting-edge methods to bear on this problem. Approaches include: 1) analyzing slices of brain tissue that maintain dynamic properties in a dish; 2) real-time, label-free imaging of neuron activity by novel optical methods; 3) activating and measuring neuronal activity with flexible, clear electrodes that interface directly with cells; and, 4) measuring and identifying patterns of brain chemicals released by experiences. These approaches will be applied together to better understand the dynamic geography of brain information processing and plasticity. Such comprehensive studies of brain dynamics in space and time have never been done. In the future, these technologies can be applied to many brain regions to advance understanding, broadening their impact. Students will be trained beyond usual disciplines, so that neuroscience, imaging technology, engineering of new materials for electrodes, and high-resolution analysis of neuron-to-neuron signals will be taught and used together. Outcomes will contribute to a workforce trained in new ways to tackle problems beyond current boundaries.What dynamic interactions and emergent properties of neuronal cells and circuits encode experience and generate changes in complex behaviors? Understanding the temporal and spatial dynamics of signal flow and evolution in multi-tiered neuronal circuits has been elusive. The proposed study will address this gap through transformational research that bridges excellence in fundamental neuroscience with innovative technologies in non-invasive imaging, materials development, and neurochemical analysis. Focus will be on processing of a surrogate sensory signal in the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), the brain's circadian pacemaker, that generates long-term behavioral change. This initiative will enable a pioneering program to develop and integrate novel non-invasive imaging of action potentials assessed by quantitative phase imaging of optical signals, stimulation/sensing by original, transparent, biocompatible electrodes, and chemical analyses of complex peptide-release signatures to understand the spatiotemporal dynamics of information flow in rat SCN circuits. These approaches will be applied together to better understand the dynamic geography of brain information processing and plasticity. Such comprehensive studies of brain dynamics in space and time have not been done previously. In the future, these technologies can be applied to many brain regions to advance understanding, broadening their impact. Students will be trained beyond usual disciplines, so that neuroscience, imaging technology, engineering of new materials for electrodes, and high-resolution analysis of neuron-to-neuron signals will be taught and used together. Outcomes will contribute to a workforce trained in new ways to work beyond current boundaries.