Previous Incubator Awards

2011-2012:

Characterization of Brain Circuit Changes Underlying Chronic Social Defeat Stress

Investigators: Herbert Covington and Kafui Dzirasa (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences)

2010-2012:

Investigating the Neural Basis for Motor Learning Abnormalities in a Novel Mouse Model for Dystonia

Investigators: Nicole Calakos (Neurology); Kafui Dzirasa (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences); Christopher Lascola (Neuroradiology, Brain Imaging and Analysis Center); Sri Raghavachari (Neurobiology); and Henry Yin (Psychology & Neuroscience).

Project Summary: Dystonia is an involuntary movement disorder that is a cause of significant disability. The pathogenesis of dystonia remains unclear. Consequently, current treatment modalities have both limited efficacy and significant side effects. We aim to identify the synaptic and circuit level dysfunction in a novel animal model based on a rare TOR1A sequence variant identified in an individual with late-onset, focal dystonia. This novel mouse model has the potential to provide critical insights into the relationship between TorsinA dysfunction, neural dysfunction, and behavioral sequelae. These studies will also advance our understanding of the contribution of this gene to dystonia and related neurological diseases.

Optimizing Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation in an Animal Model of Human Cognition

Investigators: Tobias Egner (Psychology & Neuroscience, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience); Warren Grill (Biomedical Engineering); Michael Platt (Neurobiology, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience); and Marc Sommer (Biomedical Engineering, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience).

Project Summary: The application of brief magnetic pulses near the head can induce small electric currents in the neural tissue of the brain, a technique called ‘transcranial magnetic stimulation’ (TMS). Studies in humans suggest that TMS can temporarily inhibit or increase the activity in stimulated brain areas, and there is much interest in using TMS for human brain research and therapeutic purposes. A major impediment to these endeavors is that the exact way in which TMS affects neuronal activity and consequent cognitive function is currently not well understood. To overcome this limitation, we will optimize TMS for use in nonhuman primates, where we can directly measure its effects on the responses of single neurons, and to compare the behavioral consequences of stimulating particular brain regions in monkeys and humans. Results from our project will provide a scientifically sound basis for the development of research and therapeutic applications of TMS in humans.

2009-2012:

Interoception and the Development of Self-Regulation in Adolescence

Investigators: Adrian Angold (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Center for Developmental Epidemiology); Philip Costanzo (Psychology & Neuroscience); Helen Egger (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Center for Developmental Epidemiology); Richard Keefe (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences); Cynthia Kuhn (Pharmacology & Cancer Biology); Kevin LaBar (Psychology & Neuroscience, Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Center for Neuroeconomic Studies, and the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center); Rhonda Merwin (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences); Steven Stanton (Center for Cognitive Neuroscience); James T. Voyvodic (Radiology and the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center); Martin H. Ulshen (Pediatrics, Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition); Chongming Yang (Social Sciences Research Institute); and Nancy Zucker (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Duke Eating Disorders Program).

Project Summary: It is well recognized that internal changes in bodily organs signal motivated states such as hunger, fear, passion, excitement. While such signals are logical accompaniments to these motivated states (e.g. feeling the intense pounding of your heart as you run from an attacker), yet the signals themselves can serve as cues to guide complex behavior (e.g. the intense pit of dread in your gut intensifies your opinions). Of interest, research in adults has demonstrated that individuals differ in their sensitivity to these somatic sensations. For example, while some may be exquisitely sensitive to even minor alterations from their gut, others often seem relatively unaware of these internal changes. Importantly, sensitivity to these somatic sensations has been associated with proficiency of emotional learning, the vividness of emotional memories, the intensity of emotional experience, and may help facilitate empathic attunement to others via the embodiment of their experiences. Sensitivity to somatic sensations may be related to intuitive problem solving (‘gut feelings’), strength of convictions, and may be related to the pleasure or aversion associated with drugs of abuse. Despite the importance of “interoceptive sensitivity,” researchers know surprisingly little about the development of adaptive and maladaptive trajectories of conscious somatic sensation. We aim to characterize the neural circuitry that supports the healthy development of interoceptive sensitivity during a vulnerable period of brain development: adolescence. This project will help us develop novel intervention strategies for psychosomatic disorders such as anorexia nervosa that principally emerge during the adolescent period, and will be used as the basis of a longitudinal investigation of the typical and atypical development of somatic sensitivity across adolescence.

2009-2011:

Feasibility Studies of the Inferior Colliculus as a Prosthetic Site

Investigators: Nell Cant (Neurobiology); Warren Grill (Biomedical Engineering); Jennifer Groh (Psychology & Neuroscience, Neurobiology, and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience); Debara Tucci (Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and the Duke Hearing Center); and Blake Wilson (Surgery, Division of Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and the Duke Hearing Center).

Quinolone Reductase II: A Novel Target for Neuroprotection

Investigators: Guoping Feng and Christopher Lascola (Radiology and the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center).

Using a Novel Approach for Functional Brain Imaging in Mouse Models of Psychiatric Disorders

Investigators: Guoping Feng; Yong-hui Jiang (Pediatrics, Division of Medical Genetics); Christopher Lascola (Radiology and the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center); Allen Song (Biomedical Engineering and the Brain Imaging and Analysis Center).

2008-2011:

Dissecting Synaptic and Circuitry Mechanisms of Bipolar Disorder

Investigators: Allison Ashley-Koch (Medicine and the Center for Human Genetics); Nicole Calakos (Neurology); Guoping Feng; and William Wetsel (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences).

Noninvasive Chemical Genetic Control of Neuronal Activity

Investigators: Marc Caron (Cell Biology); Michael Ehlers (Neurobiology); Richard Mooney (Neurobiology); William Wetsel (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences); Bruce Bean (Harvard Medical School, Neurobiology); and Richard Palmiter (University of Washington, Biochemistry).

Engineering Optogenetic Sensors and Actuators for Imaging and Controlling Brain Activity

Investigators: George J. Augustine (Neurobiology); Lorena Beese (Biochemistry); and Homme Hellinga (Biochemistry).

2007-2010:

Decisions under Risk: From Phenotype to Mechanism

Investigators: R. Alison Adcock (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences); James Bettman (Marketing, Fuqua School of Business); Elizabeth Brannon (Psychology & Neuroscience and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience); David Goldstein (Molecular Genetics & Microbiology); Scott Huettel (Psychology & Neuroscience, Brain Imaging and Analysis Center and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience); Kevin LaBar (Psychology & Neuroscience and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience); Mary Frances Luce (Marketing, Fuqua School of Business); John Payne (Management, Fuqua School of Business); Michael Platt (Neurobiology and the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience); Pate Skene (Neurobiology); and Nancy Zucker (Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences).

Read the published papers from the Decisions under Risk Incubator Award:

Nature Neuroscience paper PLoS Biology paper Science paper Neuron paper

2008-2010:

Multi-wall Carbon Nanotubes and MEMS Microrobots for Intracellular Neuronal Recordings

Investigators: Bruce Donald (Computer Science and Biochemistry); Gleb Finkelstein (Physics); and Richard Mooney (Neurobiology).

Non-invasive Optical Measurements of Spatially Resolved Electrical Activity in the Retina

Investigators: Vadim Arshavsky (Ophthalmology); and Joseph Izatt (Biomedical Engineering)

2007-2008:

Noninvasive, High-Speed, High-Resolution Neuronal Imaging

Investigators: Martin Fisher (Chemistry) and Ryohei Yasuda (Neurobiology)

Optics Letters paper

Duke Institute for Brain Sciences