At the beginning of this month, President Obama unveiled the BRAIN (Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies) Initiative, a $100 million attempt to unlock “the mystery of the three pounds of matter sitting between our ears,” as Obama put it.
The Initiative will officially launch in 2014, and will be funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and the National Science Foundation (NSF). A number of other organizations will also help in the funding and researching.
The Obama Administration is hopeful that the project will allow doctors and researchers to better understand autism, epilepsy, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s Disease, brain injuries caused in battle, and a variety of other brain-related diseases and injuries. It not only will help victims, but help the economy—brain problems cost billions of dollars in health care costs.
Doctor Francis Collins of the NIH stresses the importance of this Initiative, and the good it will do for the country. Doctor Collins also worked on the Human Genome Project, a research project lasting from 1990 to 2003. During his State of the Union Address, Obama noted, “Every dollar we invested to map the human genome returned $140 to our economy.”
However, some experts on the brain, like David Hovda of UCLA, think that this is all a “PR splash,” and that the administration is promising far too much. Researchers have noted that past administrations have a tendency to take existing research, bundle it up into a different program, and call it new. NIH, however, adamantly denies this, stating that the BRAIN Initiative will fund all new research.
Right now, there are not many specifics regarding the BRAIN Initiative. As the head scientists and organizations meet, more specifics will be released as to the nature of the project.
Sources referenced:
http://www.npr.org/2013/04/05/176303594/researchers-question-obamas-motives-for-brain-initiative