The Robert J. & Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science is a cross-departmental neuroscience

research institute A research institute, research centre, or research organization is an establishment founded for doing research. Research institutes may specialize in basic research or may be oriented to applied research. Although the term often implies natural ...

Brown University Brown University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. It is the List of colonial colleges, seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the US, founded in 1764 as the ' ...

Providence, Rhode Island Providence () is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Rhode Island, most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. The county seat of Providence County, Rhode Island, Providence County, it is o ...

. The institute's core focus areas include brain-computer interfaces and

computational neuroscience Computational neuroscience (also known as theoretical neuroscience or mathematical neuroscience) is a branch of neuroscience which employs mathematics, computer science, theoretical analysis and abstractions of the brain to understand th ...

The institute also focuses on research into mechanisms of

cell death Cell death is the event of a biological cell ceasing to carry out its functions. This may be the result of the natural process of old cells dying and being replaced by new ones, as in programmed cell death, or may result from factors such as di ...

with the interest of developing therapies for

neurodegenerative diseases A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Neuronal damage may also ultimately result in their death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, mul ...

History

Developing from a

Burroughs Wellcome Fund The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) is an American non-profit medical research organization that provides funding for biomedical research, STEM education, and areas of career development for scientists. Since 1970, it has been headquartered in Nor ...

grant for graduate research, the program was inaugurated in 2009 as the Brown Institute for Brain Science. In 2018, the center was renamed the Robert J. & Nancy D. Carney Institute for Brain Science in recognition of a $100 million gift. The donation—one of the largest in the university's history—established the program as one of the best-endowed university neuroscience programs in the country. In 2019, the institute moved from 2 Stimson Avenue to a renovated office on

Thayer Street Thayer Street in Providence, Rhode Island is a popular destination for students of the area's nearby schools of Brown University, Moses Brown School, Hope High School, Wheeler School, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence College, Johns ...

Centers

The Carney Institute houses seven research centers led by affiliated faculty members. These are the Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research, Center for Computational Brain Science, Center for the Neurobiology of Cells and Circuits, Center for Translational Neuroscience, Center for Vision Research, COBRE Center for Central Nervous System Function, and COBRE Center for Neuromodulation. In 2021, Brown established the Center for

Alzheimer's Disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

Research, a research program housed within the Carney Institute. Financed by two gifts totaling $30 million, the center plans to conduct clinical and laboratory-based research focusing on the early detection and treatment of Alzheimer's and related conditions. The Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research is affiliated with the

Brown University School of Public Health The Brown University School of Public Health is the public health school of Brown University, a private research university in Rhode Island. It is located along the Providence River, down the hill and about a quarter mile from Brown's central ...

and local hospitals and has partnerships with

Lund University Lund University () is a Public university, public research university in Sweden and one of Northern Europe's oldest universities. The university is located in the city of Lund in the Swedish province of Scania. The university was officially foun ...

and the

University of Gothenburg The University of Gothenburg () is a List of universities in Sweden, university in Sweden's second largest city, Gothenburg. Founded in 1891, the university is the third-oldest of the current List of universities in Sweden#Public universities, S ...

in Sweden.

Research

The Carney Institute is best known for its role in

BrainGate BrainGate is a brain implant system, currently under development and in clinical trials, designed to help those who have lost control of their limbs, or other bodily functions, such as patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) or spinal co ...

, a brain-computer interface technology developed, in part, by Institute founder John Donoghue and affiliated professor

Leigh Hochberg Leigh Robert Hochberg is an American neurologist, neuroscientist, and neuroengineer. He is the Director of the Center for Neurotechnology and Neurorecovery at Massachusetts General Hospital and the L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Engine ...

. In 2014, the lab of Carney–affiliate Arto Nurmikko developed the Brown Wireless Device, a wireless brain-sensing system. In 2021 Hochberg and Nurmikko used the device to demonstrate the first human use of high-bandwidth brain-computer interface. The device is capable of transmitting neural signals at a single-neuron resolution in full broadband fidelity. In 2019, the institute reported the discovery of a previously unknown set of

neurons A neuron (American English), neurone (British English), or nerve cell, is an membrane potential#Cell excitability, excitable cell (biology), cell that fires electric signals called action potentials across a neural network (biology), neural net ...

that spikes rhythmically at gamma range intervals, coordinating sensory encoding in a way analogous to a

metronome A metronome () is a device that produces an audible click or other sound at a uniform interval that can be set by the user, typically in beats per minute (BPM). Metronomes may also include synchronized visual motion, such as a swinging pendulum ...

People

* Diane Lipscombe, Director, Director of the Center for Alzheimer's Disease Research, president of the

Society for Neuroscience The Society for Neuroscience (SfN) is a professional society, headquartered in Washington, D.C., for basic scientists and physicians around the world whose research is focused on the study of the brain and nervous system. It is especially well k ...

(2018-19) * Christopher I. Moore, Associate Director * John Donoghue, Founder, former Director *

Judy Liu Judy Shih-Hwa Liu is the Sidney A. Fox and Dorothea Doctors Fox Professor of Ophthalmology and Neuroscience at Brown University. She works on the cortical malformations that cause epilepsy. Education and early career Liu earned a Bachelor of Scie ...

, Associate Director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience * Michael J. Frank, Director, Center for Computational Brain Science

Affiliated faculty

David Berson David M. Berson is an American neuroscientist and a Sidney A. Fox and Dorothea Doctors Fox Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Science at Brown University. Berson's research focuses on the structural and functional output of retinal ganglion c ...

* Wayne Bowen *

Mary Carskadon Mary A. Carskadon is an American sleep researcher. She is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and the director of the Bradley Hospital Sleep Research Laboratory an ...

Eugene Charniak Eugene Charniak (1946 – June 13, 2023) was a professor of computer Science and cognitive Science at Brown University. He held an A.B. in Physics from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from M.I.T. in Computer Science. His research was in th ...

Leon Cooper Leon N. Cooper (né Kupchik; February 28, 1930 – October 23, 2024) was an American theoretical physicist and neuroscientist. He won the Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on superconductivity. Cooper developed the concept of Cooper pairs and ...

* Lorin Crawford *

Stuart Geman Stuart Alan Geman (born March 23, 1949) is an American mathematician, known for influential contributions to computer vision, statistics, probability theory, machine learning, and the neurosciences. ikipediaList of important publications in comp ...

* Edward Hawrot * Christopher S. Hill *

* David Laidlaw * Lawrence Larson *

Peter Monti Peter M. Monti is an American psychologist, currently the Donald G. Millar Distinguished Professor of Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Professor of Behavioral and Social Sciences and former director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at ...

* Arto Nurmikko * Michael Paradiso * John M. Sedivy * James A. Simmons * William H. Warren *

Rena R. Wing Rena R. Wing is recognized for her well-established research on behavioral treatments of obesity. Dr. Wing's research examined positive outcomes for long-term weight loss as well as halting weight gain in individuals who are currently overweight. Th ...

* Jingming Xu

References

{{Brown University Brown University Neuroscience research centers in the United States 2009 establishments in the United States Research institutes in Rhode Island