Center for a scalable pipeline to map the mouse brain’s wiring with advanced microscopy
Official title: BRAIN CONNECTS: Center for a pipeline of high throughput integrated volumetric electron microscopy for whole mouse brain connectomics
Funded at Allen Institute · NIH-11399140 · Data updated 2026-11-12
A patient-friendly center aims to map the complete wiring diagram of the mouse brain using high-throughput, advanced imaging to better understand how brain cells connect.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Allen Institute NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Seattle, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2023 |
| Project end | August 31, 2028 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $6,391,573 |
| NIH project number | 5UM1NS132253-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11399140 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
No patients are recruited in this grant; the work is foundational neuroscience using mouse models and related data.
✕Less likely to help
People with a brain disease may not directly benefit from the imaging pipeline itself, but may gain from the broader insights into brain wiring that could guide therapies.
What this research studies
This project builds a high-throughput microscopy pipeline to image and analyze the whole mouse brain at the level of individual connections. It focuses on linking cell types to their wiring patterns, hoping to reveal how circuits relate to behavior. The work leverages established human-relevant imaging technologies and data-analysis methods to create a scalable, sharable dataset for neuroscience. Researchers will develop new tools to image, process, and interpret extremely large brain datasets, with an emphasis on accuracy and reliability. The goal is to accelerate discoveries about how brain circuits underlie function and disease.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the project could provide a detailed map of mouse brain connections that informs understanding of human brain networks and speeds development of treatments for neurological disorders.
How similar studies have gone: Prior large-scale connectomics efforts in worms and flies have transformed understanding of circuits, showing that comprehensive wiring maps can illuminate function.
Where this research is happening
-
Allen Institute
Seattle, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Macarico Da Costa, Nuno — Allen Institute
- Study coordinator: Macarico Da Costa, Nuno
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.