Transforming Neurobehavioral Science: The NIH BRAIN Initiative's Brain-Behavior Quantification and Synchronization Program

The Brain Behavior Quantification and Synchronization (BBQS) program is a basic research effort in the NIH BRAIN Initiative to develop new tools and approaches in support of a more comprehensive mechanistic understanding of the neural basis of behavior. The goals of the BBQS program are to 1) Develop high-resolution tools, platforms, and theories to precisely quantify behaviors as a multi-dimensional response with high resolution and synchronize these with simultaneously recorded brain activity; 2) Build new conceptual and computational models of behavioral systems, with which to establish causal brain/behavior relationships; 3) Establish a cross-disciplinary consortium to develop and disseminate new tools, ontologies, research designs, and ethical frameworks that will transform how mechanistic brain-behavioral research is conducted.