# the self-tuning brain: cellular and circuit mechanisms of behavioral resilience

> **NIH NIH R01** · CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY · 2022 · $60,148

## Abstract

ABSTRACT
A major goal in clinical neuroscience is to develop efficient treatments to prevent or minimize the loss of
brain function caused by pathological decreases or increases of neuronal activity, which are hallmarks of a
wide variety of neurological disorders. Interestingly, in some instances, the brain has evolved mechanisms
to partially correct abnormal neuronal function. Understanding the adaptive mechanisms that restore brain
function would not only provide insight into the functioning of the normal brain but also guide future
approaches to ameliorate loss of brain function caused by disease or injury. We propose to start a research
program to investigate the cellular and circuit mechanisms by which the brain maintains constant behavioral
output, even when neuronal activity is naturally variable or it is perturbed. Our preliminary evidence with
songbirds indicate that the brain circuits involved in song production demonstrate a high level of behavioral
resilience both at short and long timescales. At the short timescale the patterns of firing of premotor
neurons directly involved in song production vary from day to day, although there is no measurable
variability in the song. At the long timescale, we genetically perturbed the activity of these premotor neurons
and this caused a dramatic disruption of song. However, manipulated birds fully recovered from the
perturbation, and were able to produce their original song after around 10 days. We will build on these
results to explore the neuronal mechanisms that ensure behavioral resilience in a brain circuit involved in a
complex behavior using gene delivery, optogenetics, in vivo functional imaging, behavioral analysis, and
computational modelling.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10673470
- **Project number:** 3R01NS104925-05S1
- **Recipient organization:** CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
- **Principal Investigator:** Adrienne L Fairhall
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $60,148
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2017-12-12 → 2023-11-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10673470

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10673470, the self-tuning brain: cellular and circuit mechanisms of behavioral resilience (3R01NS104925-05S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10673470. Licensed CC0.

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