IBACS Seed Grants provide funding for collaborative research projects across the brain and cognitive sciences. Seed Grants also support applications for equipment, research workshops, events, and other activities compatible with the mission of the Institute.
2023-2024 Recipients
Learn about the PIs and projects that received IBACS Seed Grants this year.
Jun Yan, Statistics
Title of Project: Brain functional connectivity and Alzheimer's disease
Brain functional connectivity changes significantly from normal cognition to dementia. Early Alzheimer's disease (AD) affects brain function, making fMRI data valuable for early detection. This proposal aims to understand AD-related brain connectivity changes by: 1) Developing a deep learning framework to detect abnormal connectivity; 2) Exploring links between brain network differences and traits; and 3) Assessing connectivity changes and biomarkers. Statistical innovation will be applied to an existing dataset in collaboration with Dr. Panpan Zhang of Vanderbilt University.
Xiaojing Wang, Statistics
Title of Project: Fusion of Bayesian Statistics and Network Analytics to Understand Brain Function
Alzheimer’s disease (AD), as the leading cause of dementia, brings many challenges to quality of life and economics to the community, especially the aging community. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a promising biomarker for AD detection. In this project, we will develop novel, robust and interpretable Bayesian methods to reduce the impact of the noise on fMRI data and thus to improve the accuracy of functional brain networks learned from the data. The work will help associate the network-based predictors more precisely with cognitive biomarkers of AD and will make significant modeling advancement in AD.
Shengyun Gu, Linguistics
Title of Project: Processing iconicity: Insights from signing and non-signing minds
This study addresses two overarching questions regarding sign language linguistics and deaf cognition. First, how does the notion of iconicity (i.e., resemblance between form and meaning) possibly interact with a linguistic process called “weak hand drop” (i.e., a 1-handed realization of a 2-handed sign) in a deaf sign language? Second, whether and how deaf eyes may differ from hearing eyes in their perception of iconicity, as a result of knowing the sign language under consideration.
Flora Oswald, Psychological Sciences
Title of Project: Tracking Visual Attention to Environmental Signals of Belonging
Marginalized individuals often experience social identity threat, or concern about how they will be treated based on their marginalized identity, which is linked to downstream health disparities. Environmental cues, such as lacking representation, can activate this threat; conversely, cues indicating belonging – like a rainbow flag – can mitigate these detrimental effects. Our research uses eye-tracking technology to understand how marginalized individuals visually attend to environmental safety cues, highlighting the cognitive processing mechanisms underlying minority health disparities.
Natale Sciolino, Physiology and Neurobiology
Title of Project: Effects of in vivo endocannabinoid signaling in the locus coeruleus region during stress
It is well known that stress activates norepinephrine-containing neurons in the locus coeruleus (LC) to promote anxiety-like responses. However, the molecular mechanisms that terminate the effects of stress are unclear. Using viral-genetic targeting strategies, neurotransmitter sensing, slice electrophysiology, pharmacology, and behavior, we will uncover a role for endogenous cannabinoid (eCB) signaling in modulating LC activity and stress-induced responses. Our research will provide key insight into the neural mechanisms that curtail stress and anxiety-like responses.