Cognitive and Neurobiological Approaches to Plasticity (C-NAP) Center

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PROJECT SUMMARY This Phase 1 COBRE resulted in the establishment of a unique, thematic research center on Cognitive and Neurobiological Approaches to Plasticity (CNAP). Research projects and pilot grants examine cognitive/neural plasticity across the lifespan, utilizing basic and translational/applied approaches in humans and animal models. The ultimate goal is to determine the mechanisms involved in cognitive and neural plasticity to improve functioning. Three research core facilities support the research projects, pilot grants, and programs: a Behavioral Neuroscience Core (BN), an Electroencephalography (EEG) Core, and a Neuroinformatics Core (NI), supplying unique research infrastructure resources within the State of Kansas. The BN core underwent major renovations in 2017 (nearly $1M in total costs) which included facility and equipment upgrades to shared user surgical and wet laboratories. A new cage wash facility was also installed to support increased animal housing capacity. The upgrades enhanced the ability of this core to support cutting-edge animal neuroscience research. This core has supported two projects and one pilot grant and CNAP anticipates funding one project and one pilot grant that will use this core in the coming grant year. The current supplement will enhance this core through the purchase of a new cryostat as an upgrade and eventual replacement for the current outdated unit. All five laboratories that use this core rely heavily on the cryostat and there are insufficient back-up resources on campus, so this upgrade will ensure continuity of research. The EEG core was established in 2018 as a new multi-user core to support human cognitive neuroscience research. This core has supported two pilot grants and a project, and the center anticipates supporting one pilot project and a primary project in the coming grant year that will use this core. This supplement will support a critical upgrade to the current amplifier which is becoming outdated. To expand the functionality of this core, CNAP will purchase a repetitive transmagnetic stimulation system to support neuromodulation research. This represents a significant advancement in the research techniques that the core will be able to support. The NI core was established in 2017 as a new core, tied in with the Beocat high-performance computing facility. This core supports all project and pilot grants and directly interfaces with the EEG core and two other cores in the CNAP scientific exchange network (the Hoglund Brain Imaging Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center and the Small Animal Imaging NMR/MRI Core in Chemistry at K-State). This supplement will upgrade the file system for supporting data-intensive neuroimaging analysis and modeling activities to increase performance by 10,000x over the current general-purpose system. This upgrade will create opportunities to support cutting-edge analysis techniques for all CNAP funded projects and pilot grants. Overall, the upgrades in this supplement provide multi-faceted opportunities to support the success and growth of CNAP to ensure the center supplies high quality equipment and cutting-edge technologies to promote the success of CNAP junior investigators.