The presidential research program Brain Research through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnolo-gies (BRAIN) Initiative was established 5 years ago in the United States; it has been a driving force of the United States govment and private factors to promote technol-ogy development in basic and translational neuroscience research. We here summarize the research plan and recent progress in cellular neuroscience, electrical and optical engineering, chemical and systems neurobiology, and brain mapping technologies. The research plan recogniz-es the importance of identifying different cell populations and unknown cell types in the human brain and diseased models. Technological advances in multielectrode arrays and chemical flow measurement probes not only demon-strate the capacity of detecting neural activities in large areas, but also enable a new era of studying the neural coding information. Large-scale coordination of neuronal activity and brain mapping information will allow for the identification of therapeutic targets in neurological disor-ders, which is benefited by big data acquisition and anal-ysis. Specifically, increased brain databases will expedite the dissection of thoughts, emotions, cognition, and will thereby help the development of better understanding and treatments of brain disorders. Since cell therapy demon-strates potential for regenerative medicine, the utilization of the newly advanced technologies may further improve the translational potentials and precision controls of trans-planted grafts. The development of new diagnostic andtherapeutic tools also requires intational collaborations on science, technology, advocating, healthcare and medi-cal ethics to advance the innovation and clinical practices.