On October 24th, FABBS hosted a call with several National Institutes of Health (NIH) colleagues with the Brain Behavior Quantification and Synchronization (BBQS) program to discuss progress and learn about opportunities. FABBS members heard from four members of the BBQS Working Group: Dana Schloesser, PhD (Health Services Administrator, Office of Behavior and Social Science Research), Holly Moore, PhD (Program Officer, National Institute on Drug Abuse), Ming Zhan, PhD (Program Director, National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH]), and Sara Lisanby, MD (Director, Noninvasive Neuromodulation Unit, NIMH).
After the call, FABBS President Jeff Zacks commented, “It is exciting and rewarding to see these programs, which will contribute mightily to understanding how the brain interacts with its complex environment, being advanced by the BRAIN initiative.”
The BBQS program is part of the federal Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies (BRAIN) Initiative, announced by President Barack Obama in 2013. In June 2014, the Advisory Committee to the Director (ACD) BRAIN Working Group at NIH released the BRAIN 2025: A Scientific Vision strategic roadmap. The BRAIN Initiative works to revolutionize our understanding of the human brain by accelerating development and application of innovative technologies. In 2019, additional ACD working groups were convened, culminating in the release of a second report, Brain 2.0: From Cells to Circuits, Toward Cures.
Behavioral science plays a central role in both reports (see, for example, Section II.4 in the original report) and FABBS has long advocated for its inclusion in the Initiative’s research portfolio. After the publication of the Brain 2.0 report, in February 2019, FABBS then-President Nora Newcombe and then-Member-at-Large Jeff Zacks presented to NIH BRAIN Initiative Team E on the opportunities for behavioral sciences to contribute to and advance the initiative. The BBQS program later launched as a “basic research effort to develop new tools and approaches in support of a more comprehensive mechanistic understanding of the neural basis of behavior.” BBQS attempts to fill gaps in our ability to study the brain basis of complex behaviors.
During the call, the four speakers provided updates on research in the three BBQS emphasis areas: Human Clinical Neuroscience, Organismal Behavior, and Sensors Technology. Additionally, Dr. Zhan spoke about the BBQS data flow and the program’s goal to make data and tools available to the research community.
Additionally, our NIH colleagues highlighted four ongoing opportunities for funding:
- RFA-DA-24-040: Transformative and Integrative Models of Behavior at the Organismal Level (U01 Clinical Trial Optional)
- RFA-DA-24-041: Transformative and Integrative Models of Behavior at the Organismal Level (U01 Clinical Trials Not Allowed)
- RFA-MH-26-100: BRAIN Initiative: Brain Behavior Quantification and Synchronization (R61/R33 Clinical Trial Optional) [This is a reissue of RFA-MA-23-335]
- RFA-MA-26-140: Next Generation Sensor Technology Development (U01 Clinical Trial Optional)
FABBS members appreciate the Initiative’s attention to the intersection between brain and behavioral sciences.
