Engineering Core

工程核心--摘要 工程核心的目标是使我们的团队成员能够克服他们最具挑战性的技术和 工程上的障碍。在我们的提案中，有许多工程解决方案的需求--从行为设备到 从光学和电生理仪器到用于数据采集和分析的软件。即使是技术含量最高的 我们团队中成熟的研究小组需要在工程问题上提供特殊帮助才能实现 我们雄心勃勃的目标。在哈佛大学脑科学中心，有一个现有的工程核心，它由(A)和 为神经科学实验设计、制作原型、迭代和生产定制设备的综合实验室，以及(B) 工程师-神经科学家，在用户实验室解决最具挑战性的工程问题，并培训年轻人 科学家们自己来做这件事。通过增加一名专门的员工工程师，工程核心将能够支持 这里提出了基于团队的神经科学研究。​的具体目标是实施问题的工程解决方案 面对项目和其他核心。工程核心将(A)设计和制造设备以快速成像 游动的斑马鱼幼体；(B)建造其他仪器，定量分析斑马鱼的复杂行为；(C)建造钻机 通过钙成像记录斑马鱼幼体大脑中的神经活动；。(D)制造记录幼体神经活动的仪器。 果蝇和大鼠；以及修改许多现有实验仪器的数据采集软件，包括 显微镜。

Engineering Core-Abstract The goal of the Engineering Core is to enable our Team members to surmount their most challenging technological and engineering obstacles. There are many needs for engineering solutions in our proposal--from behavioral apparatus to optical and electrophysiological rigs, to software for data acquisition and analyses. Even the most technologically sophisticated of the research groups in our Team require special assistance with engineering problems in order to achieve our ambitious aims. In the Center for Brain Science at Harvard there is an existing Engineering Core that consists of (a) an integrated laboratory to design, prototype, iterate, and produce custom devices for neuroscience experiments and (b) an engineer-neuroscientist who solves the most challenging engineering problems in the user laboratories and trains young scientists to do this themselves. By adding a dedicated staff engineer, the Engineering Core will be able to support the team-based neuroscience research proposed here. ​The specific aims are to implement engineering solutions to problems faced by the Projects and other Cores. The Engineering Core will (a) design and build apparatuses to image rapidly swimming larval zebrafish; (b) build other apparatuses to quantitatively assay complex zebrafish behavior; (c) build rigs to record neural activity in larval zebrafish brains via calcium imaging; (d) fabricate rigs to record neural activity in larval Drosophila and rat; and modify software for data acquisition in many existing experimental apparatus, including microscopes.