Dr. Michael Drew received a R03 award through the NIH BRIAN Initiative for his research project entitled “Imaging adult-born neurons in action using head-mounted minimicroscopes”.
There is a vast amount of correlational and experimental data identifying adult neurogenesis—the generation of nerve cells in the adult hippocampus— as a clinically important form of brain plasticity that is thought to influence memory, emotion and related aspects of brain heath. This award will enable the Drew lab to acquire the equipment and techniques for imaging the activity of adult-born neurons in behaving mice. This research will further our understanding of the mechanisms through which natural and disease-related changes in adult neurogenesis influence mood and cognition.