About Us

The Brain Research Center (BRC) at National Tsing Hua University was inaugurated in 2004 by the Founding Director, Academician Ann-Shyn Chiang. The BRC’s mission is to understand how the brain functions to yield memory and other complex behaviors. New technologies have been developed to discover first in fruit flies the neural circuits underlying these complex behaviors and genes and biochemistries that function within the different neurons of the circuit. Supported by the Higher Education Sprout Project, a join fund from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Science and Technology, BRC works closely with more than 40 interdisciplinary and international laboratories to advance its mission objectives. Six main approaches are taken: (i) to construct brain-wide 3D wiring diagrams at the resolution of a single neuron and its synapses (connections) with other neurons in the circuit; (ii) to develop innovative tools to manipulate the functions in these individual neurons; (iii) to understand how brain circuits encode and decode information and then map memory engrams (structural changes at synapses); (iv) to develop strong Artificial Intelligence (AI) to decode memory and mimic brain computation; (v) to translate these discoveries in fruit flies to mammals eventually to promote new medical applications; and (vi) to cultivate next-generation leaders in brain science. BRC is committed to performing world-class research through an interdisciplinary approach and by nurturing a diverse community of different scientific disciplines. We welcome collaborators and talents from different backgrounds to join us on this marvelous journey toward understanding the brain!

• Rapid single-wavelength light sheet localization microscopy for clarified tissue. Nature Comm (2019) 10:4762
  Combining lightsheet, single-molecule localization and optical tissue clearing technologies, we developed the world's first super-resolution microscopy for 3D visualization of nanoscale structures in the whole Drosophila brain. This new technology allows us to visualize new proteins produced during long-term memory formation.
• Forgetting memories through distinct actin remodeling mechanisms. PNAS (2019) 116:42
• A neural mechanism for deprivation state-specific expression of relevant memories in Drosophila. Nature Neuroscience (2019) 22:2029
• Asymmetric ephaptic inhibition between compartmentalized olfactory receptor neurons. Nature Comm (2019) 10:1560
  How does the brain sustain temporal short-term memory until the formation of long-term memory? Modulation of the dopaminergic system allows flies to prioritize the expression of state-dependent motivated behavior. Actin remodeling in the postsynaptic neurons then determines whether the neural activity sustains. Our goal is to map where these temporal activities occur and how they instruct the system to store protein-synthesis-dependent memory.
• Tumour vessel normalization and potentiates anticancer therapies. Nature Nanotech (2019) 14:1160
  Extended beyond Drosophila research, we set up a team dedicated to apply our new imaging technologies for high-speed 3D visualization of intact large tissues including tumors and the mouse brain at nanoscale resolution.
  
• The making of a flight feather: bio-architectural principles and adaptation. Cell (2019) 179:1409
  Mapping comprehensive neural networks in the brain and the body is a formidable but essential to realize how nervous systems control complex behaviors. We have developed an effective approach using integrated synchrotron X-ray tomography techniques for fast three dimensional (3D) imaging of a large population of metal-labeled individual neurons in the Drosophila brain without tissue clearing or physical sectioning. As a proof-of-concept study, we used synchrotron X-ray tomography to reveal the 3D structure of a featcher rachis.
  

BRC is committed to performing world-class research through an interdisciplinary approach and by nurturing a diverse community of different scientific disciplines. We welcome collaborators and talents from different backgrounds to join us on this marvelous journey toward understanding the brain!