The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, has announced a five-year, $4 million grant from the U.K.-based Gatsby Charitable Foundation to study neuronal circuits underlying higher brain function.

The grant will enable a new consortium of four research teams from Salk and UC San Diego to develop and use genetic tools that manipulate specific cell types in the brain to tease apart their contributions to higher brain function. Salk researchers Edward M. Callaway and John H. Reynolds and UC San Diego professors Anirvan Ghosh and Massimo Scanziani will head the study.

Higher brain functions, such as visual perception and attention, are the result of coordinated activity of neurons in the cerebral cortex. Because researchers have a limited comprehension of how different elements and cell types interact and give rise to sensations and thoughts, they have a limited understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying cortical functions.

"The human brain with its unrivaled complexity is biology's last frontier," said UCSD researcher Ghosh. "Thanks to the support of the Gatsby Foundation, we expect to greatly expand the understanding of brain circuitry. This will in turn allow us to explore the brain's ability to adapt and rewire, as well as its remarkable capacity to learn and remember."