Advanced imaging sensors to watch brain plasticity in living animals
Official title: Multiplex Imaging of Brain Activity and Plasticity with Optimized FRET/FLIM-based Sensors
Funded at Northwestern University · NIH-11599800 · Data updated 2026-11-12
Researchers are building highly sensitive red fluorescent sensors to visualize real-time brain signaling and structural changes in living mice.
Quick facts
| Grant type | U01 cooperative agreement |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Northwestern University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Chicago, United States) |
| Project start | January 1, 2023 |
| Project end | December 31, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $724,418 |
| NIH project number | 7U01NS128655-05 |
| Project ID | NIH-11599800 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are animals (mice) used for brain plasticity studies and researchers conducting in vivo imaging of neural activity.
✕Less likely to help
This research does not involve enrolling people as participants.
What this research studies
This project aims to create and validate red-emitting sensors that work with green calcium sensors so we can see how brain cells and synapses change during learning and navigation. The team will design, screen, and optimize these sensors in mammalian cells, then test them in brain slices and in awake mice. They will capture how biochemical signals and spine structures coordinate during plasticity, using 2-photon microscopy to minimize movement blur. The work will include iterative improvements based on biophysical analyses and experimental feedback from slices and live animals.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, patients could benefit in the long term from improved understanding of how learning and memory change in diseases, potentially guiding new therapies.
How similar studies have gone: Previous work has shown that advanced imaging sensors can track fast biochemical events; this project aims to extend that to plasticity-related signaling in vivo, which is continuing but not yet routine.
Where this research is happening
-
Northwestern University
Chicago, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Dombeck, Daniel a — Northwestern University
- Study coordinator: Dombeck, Daniel a
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.