The University is quickly making a name for itself in its efforts to propel research advancements in neuroimaging, thanks to federal grants and donations.
With a brand new office and better research capabilities at a new location, the University’s neuroimaging program has built an infrastructure that allows for cross-leveraging between its two centers.
Funded by the Brain, Biology and Machine Initiative, which is aimed at bringing together collaborative research, the Neuroinfomatics Center will be up and running this week at the Riverfront Research Park. The Neuroinfomatics Center will then work with researchers from the Robert and Beverly Lewis Center for Neuroimaging, which was dedicated Oct. 14.
“Individuals have a great deal of control over how they see the world,” Assistant Professor of Psychology Ed Awh said in explanation of the field of neuroimaging.
And now, University professors will have a better understanding of why people see what they do.
The Neuroinfomatics Center will work to combine computational science with neuroscience by building computational models of the brain and head to analyze data. This will allow researchers to better understand the health of the brain and how it functions, Center Director Allen Malony said.
The neuroimaging center is home to a high-powered, research-grade functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine. The machine is the only one of its kind in the Pacific Northwest used strictly for research, psychology Assistant Professor Paul Dassonville said.
Similar machines are used in hospitals but are only used for research at night. Having unlimited access on campus now gives the University vast amounts of time to conduct research.
The machine provides one of the best ways to look at how the brain works in relation to thought and behavior, Nunnally said.
The machine will also help researchers learn how the brain decides what information to filter out, and why some people are unable to filter out information — such as those with Attention Deficit Disorder, Awh added.
The machine may also uncover the reasons why the brain, changing with age, loses cognitive functions.
“We know certain parts of the brain are involved with information processing,” Nunnally said. “(But) we don’t know how these change with age.”
Another area of research the machine will be involved in is plasticity studies — that is, learning how deaf people “re-wire” the part of their brain normally used in the auditory process to
enhance their visual process.
Funding for the Neuroinfomatics Center came from the Department of Defense, while the neuroimaging center was financed through grants, Department of Defense funds and a pledge from University alumni Bob and Beverly Lewis. Both centers will work together in pursuing joint proposals for additional funding.