Award Abstract #0722993
MRI: Acquisition of Eight-Channel Receiver System and RF Coils for Functional Neuroimaging

NSF Org:	BCS Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences
Initial Amendment Date:	September 7, 2007
Latest Amendment Date:	September 7, 2007
Award Number:	0722993
Award Instrument:	Standard Grant
Program Manager:	John E. Yellen BCS Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences SBE Directorate for Social, Behavioral & Economic Sciences
Start Date:	September 15, 2007
Expires:	August 31, 2010 (Estimated)
Awarded Amount to Date:	$230000
Investigator(s):	David Heeger david.heeger@nyu.edu (Principal Investigator) Souheil Inati (Co-Principal Investigator)
Sponsor:	New York University 70 WASHINGTON SQUARE S NEW YORK, NY 10012 212/998-2121
NSF Program(s):	MAJOR RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION
Field Application(s):
Program Reference Code(s):	OTHR, 0000
Program Element Code(s):	1189

ABSTRACT

Some of the deepest mysteries facing science in the 21st century concern the higher functions of the central nervous system: perception, memory, attention, learning, language, emotion, personality, social interaction, decision-making, motor control, and consciousness. All psychiatric disorders (e.g., anxiety disorders and depression), neurological diseases (e.g., Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease), and developmental disorders (e.g., dyslexia and autism) are characterized by dysfunction of the neural systems in the brain. In fact, all aspects of human behavior are controlled by the human brain. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has revolutionized neuroscience over the past decade. It is allowing a new era of research, complementary to more invasive techniques for measuring neuronal activity in animals, to explore the function and dysfunction of the human brain. FMRI uses an MRI scanner, like those that can be found in medical clinics and hospitals around the country, but reprogrammed to yield a picture of brain function as well as brain anatomy.

This award provides funds to permit New York University to acquire new instrumentation to upgrade an existing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scanner for basic-science brain imaging research. The new instrumentation will be incorporated into the facilities of the NYU Center for Brain Imaging (CBI), which is a shared research center that houses a Siemens Allegra 3 Tesla MRI scanner along with all of the ancillary equipment needed to perform fMRI research. CBI is located on the ground floor of the building that houses the Psychology, Neural Science, and Physics Departments. There are over 150 users of this facility (faculty, postdocs, graduate students, and lab techs) in 8 departments in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences (Psychology, Neural Science, Chemistry, Physics, Economics, Linguistics, English, Political Science), 3 departments in the School of Medicine (Neurology, Psychiatry, Radiology) and a department in the School of Education (Physical Therapy). The research is supported by over 25 federal research grants.

The new instrumentation will provide CBI users with improvements in the signal-to-noise ratio, spatial resolution, temporal resolution, and brain coverage that will enable experiments that are currently impossible or infeasible. Specifically, with the funding from this award CBI will purchase a new 8-channel receiver system and new RF coils. The RF coils act more or less like the antenna of an MRI scanner to "listen" to brain tissue and measure of brain activity. Increasing the number of channels allows for the use of more RF coils (more antennas) that improves the quality of the received signals.

. The new instrumentation will, therefore, greatly leverage the highly collaborative, multidisciplinary program of research, teaching, and training in the Center for Brain Imaging. Research training in CBI at the undergraduate, pre- and post-doctoral levels will be enhanced by the new instrumentation. Teaching will also be strengthened; the participating departments offer a series of courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels that will make use of the new instrumentation. The participating departments are committed to attracting women and under-represented groups at all levels. The proposed instrumentation will surely help in recruiting, because it will enable CBI (and the participating departments) to keep current with some of the latest advances in MRI and fMRI technology, and enable the research and training to be cutting edge, thereby increasing visibility. Finally, the instrumentation will contribute to the development of new interdisciplinary fields based on the technological advance of fMRI.

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