Computational Neuroscience InitiativeIn the summer of 2014, the Computational Memory Lab (CML) at the University of Pennsylvania began work on the "Restoring Active Memory" project, a four-year, nationwide, nine-site effort led by the the lab and funded by a grant worth up to $22.5 million from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. The grant, conceived under President Obama’s BRAIN Initiative, was established with the important goal of helping veterans with traumatic brain injury regain losses to memory.
Under the leadership of CML Director and Principal Investigator, Dr. Michael J. Kahana, the team at Penn has partnered with sites throughout the country, including Columbia University, Dartmouth College, Emory University, Thomas Jefferson University, Mayo Clinic, the National Institutes of Health, the University of Texas Southwestern and the University of Washington, to collect data in the hopes of identifying the biomarkers of good memory.
"The RAM project is a great example of 'Big Neuroscience,'" said RAM Project Director, Dr. Dan Rizzuto. "Data is being generated at nine different clinical sites and sent to the Computational Memory Lab for analysis."
To date, Dr. Rizzuto added, "we have enrolled over 40 patients with implanted electrodes onto our memory studies so far, allowing us to precisely identify the biomarkers of good memory. In addition, our brain stimulation protocols allow us to test the causality of these biomarkers on human memory."
To see the project’s initial announcement as reported by Penn News, please see: http://www.upenn.edu/pennnews/news/penn-lead-225-million-project-restoring-memory-loss
For more information on the Computational Memory Lab, please visit: http://memory.psych.upenn.edu