Jasanoff Lab
Principal Investigator: Alan Jasanoff
Institution: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA)
Primary Subfield: Neuroscience
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Hemodynamic neuroimaging methods like functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have revolution- ized neuroscience by allowing researchers to characterize spatiotemporal features of brain-wide activity in hu- mans and animals. A major disadvantage of such approaches, however, is their lack of specificity for well-defined cellular and molecular sources; this limits their ability to yield explanatory insights into neural function. To address this problem, we recently developed an unprecedented family of genetically encodable molecular probes, called NOSTICs, that transduce intracellular calcium activity into artificial hemodynamic responses, permitting spatially comprehensive neuroimaging of genetically targeted cells and circuit elements. Hemogenetic signals arising from the NOSTICs may be differentiated from endogenous blood flow changes by pharmacological means and can be detected by any hemodynamic imaging modality. Our preliminary experiments indicate that cell-specific activity of even sparse neuronal populations can be identified using hemogenetic fMRI. These capabilities will enable hemogenetic imaging to confront some of the most outstanding problems in neuroscience, such…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01NS121073-05: Analysis of Integrated Brain Functions Using Hemogenetic Imaging (2026)
- 5R01DA062195-02: Analyzing brain-wide bases of neuroplastic change using new imaging tools (2026)
- 1R01MH142434-01: Brain-wide analysis of input/output relationships in reward system function (2026)
- 5UH3MH126868-05: Hemogenetic imaging technology for circuit-specific analysis of primate brain function (2026)
- 5U01EB031641-05: Toward functional molecular neuroimaging using vasoactive probes in human subjects (2025)
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