How patterns of brain chemical receptors shape brain networks across species
Official title: CRCNS: Linking receptorarchitecture and functional brain networks across species
Funded at Child Mind Institute, INC. · NIH-11177058 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project maps where chemical receptors sit in the brain and links those maps to brain activity in humans and several animal species to better understand how brains are organized.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Child Mind Institute, INC. NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project start | September 1, 2024 |
| Project end | July 31, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $171,944 |
| NIH project number | 5R01MH139349-02 |
| Project ID | NIH-11177058 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants would be adults able to undergo MRI or individuals/families willing to donate brain tissue, including people with neurological or psychiatric conditions as well as healthy volunteers.
✕Less likely to help
Patients seeking immediate clinical treatments or those unable to travel for imaging or tissue donation are unlikely to gain direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
Researchers will combine detailed 3D maps of neurotransmitter receptors with brain scans (MRI and fMRI) from humans, macaques, marmosets, and rats. They will use AI methods to build high-resolution receptor maps in marmosets and rats and align brains across species to find matching regions. Then they will compare receptor patterns with how brain areas communicate to reveal structure-function relationships across the neocortex. The work aims to create tools that help translate findings from animal models into human brain research.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could make it easier to translate animal research into human treatments and help identify molecular targets linked to brain disorders.
How similar studies have gone: Prior receptor mapping and MRI work in humans and macaques has shown promise, but large-scale cross-species alignment and transfer-learning to smaller animals is a newer and less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
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Child Mind Institute, INC.
New York, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Funck, Thomas — Child Mind Institute, INC.
- Study coordinator: Funck, Thomas
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.