Careers in Brain Research
Brain research is a growing field with opportunities for scientists across the globe. Whether you are an engineer looking to design new computer programs or a neuroscientist looking to improve the human brain, a career in brain research could be right for you. These projects are creating new funding and opening up career options for people with diverse backgrounds. Some of the scientists working on these projects are mathematicians, neuroscientists, materials scientists, and medical specialists.
Cleveland Clinic’s Brain Study
The Cleveland Clinic is about to launch a landmark brain study that will track 200,000 neurologically healthy people for 20 years. The study aims to discover the earliest signs of neurodegenerative diseases and identify preventative and treatment methods. To be eligible, individuals must be at least 50 years old and complete several tests.
The Cleveland Clinic’s Brain Study will collect data from 200,000 neurologically healthy people and be the largest neurological study in the world. The researchers will analyze data on as many as 200,000 neurologically healthy people each year for up to 20 years. This data will help scientists discover the biomarkers and targets that can prevent or cure neurological diseases. Because one in six people is affected by some form of neurodegenerative disease, early detection of these disorders is crucial to finding effective treatments.
This study will enlist the expertise of a multidisciplinary team of scientists and physicians. Eventually, the study will reach beyond the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus. The researchers will use data points from the study volunteers to build a trend line. This trend line will capture hidden changes in the brain and genetic risk factors.
European Union’s Human Brain Project
The Human Brain Project, also known as HBP, is a collaborative research project that aims to decode the human brain. It encourages scientists to share data, tools, and ideas for advancing brain research. The HBP was launched in October 2013 and is currently in a ramp-up phase. The project’s objectives were recently revised to focus on building infrastructure to support brain science.
The HBP aims to enable European and international neuroscience researchers to collaborate in cutting-edge research. With the use of advanced computing systems, researchers can share their data and analyse it together. This will lead to the development of maps of the human brain, digital brain reconstructions, and brain-inspired computing systems.
Dallas Lifespan Brain Study
The Dallas Lifespan Brain Study is an ambitious research effort, designed to understand the antecedents of cognitive decline and atrophy, and the accumulation of amyloid plaques in the brain. By enrolling nearly 500 healthy adults, it aims to develop a corpus of research on the cognitive neuroscience of middle age.
The study involved 281 participants aged 20 to 89 years. They underwent diffusion-weighted MRI to assess the white matter diffusivity in their brains. The researchers found that the ventral visual cortex is a region of the brain that exhibits highly organized patterns of functional activity associated with visual processing. But as people age, ventral visual cortex activity becomes more similar, a process known as dedifferentiation. The researchers hypothesized that this is due to age-related degradation of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus, a white matter pathway involved in visual perception.
Allen Institute for Brain Science
The Allen Institute for Brain Science (AIBS) is a Seattle-based research institution that focuses on bioscience research. Established in 2003, the Institute is dedicated to advancing our understanding of how the human brain works. The organization’s mission is to discover the secrets of the human brain, and to accelerate research and development.
The institute’s executive team recently announced a new organizational structure. They said the changes align with the vision of founder Paul Allen. A new division will focus on neural computation and dynamics. Several current programs at the institute will remain. The institute is currently home to the Cell Types and MindScope programs, which aim to understand brain cell types and their function.
The Allen Institute is a nonprofit organization that conducts research in various fields related to the brain and behavior. The organization has over 300 scientists and two broad research programs.
Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Salk scientists are developing cutting-edge techniques for studying human brains and diseased neurons. They are using a new primate model for cognitive aging, and they are using advanced machine-learning algorithms to integrate diverse datasets and identify critical cell types and biological pathways. These discoveries will help researchers better understand the brains and diseases of older adults.
The Salk Institute is a leading neuroscience research center. In addition to its world-class research facilities, it houses the world’s largest neuroscience research community. Its Center for Neurobiology of Vision uses the visual system as a model to study brain structure. In addition, the NOMIS Center for Immunobiology and Microbial Pathogens studies the body’s response to infection and injury.