The brain is a topic of interest all year within the University’s Brain Biology and Machine Initiative. University Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies Rich Linton described the initiative as an interdisciplinary effort that joins work in fields such as cognitive science, neuroscience, molecular biology and education.
“The focus really is better understanding of how the brain develops and functions,”
Linton said.
University programs affiliated with the BBMI include the Lewis Center for Neuroimaging, the Mammalian Genetics Center, the Center for Genomics and Proteomics, the Neuroinformatics Center, the Institute of Neuroscience and Zebrafish Informatics.
BBMI coordinator and psychology professor emeritus Michael Posner said roughly a dozen psychology faculty members are currently
involved with the initiative, and that number is constantly growing. Psychology research interests within the BBMI include attention, short-term and long-term memory and signed and spoken language.
Posner said the research on attention uses the BBMI’s connections with departments that study genetics to find out which genes are involved in the development of attention in children. This research is then linked to the education department to help determine more
effective teaching methods.
“Rather than hope they hear about it from reading the journals, we’ve tried to bring people
together,” Posner said.
Linton said planning for the BBMI began in the late 1990s, and the organization first received federal funding in 2000. With the strong support from the U.S. Congress, the BBMI has received $14.3 million in federal funding over the years. The initiative also received a $10 million gift from Robert and Beverly Lewis, which was used to create the Robert and Beverly Lewis Center for
Neuroimaging. Additional funding comes from competitive grants awarded to faculty and groups
of faculty.
“Typically we say more than
$40 million has been raised in support of the programs and facilities,”
Linton said.
Linton said the program may have new facilities in the future. The Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute plans to have a building on the east side of the Willamette Hall science complex with construction beginning within the next year. Linton said the next phase, the creation of an Integrative Science Building, would include adding new quarters for the BBMI. He said the University hopes to have sufficient private funding by 2007 to request government funding for the 2007-2009 biennium to begin the project.
“I believe that’s part of the funding drive for the 125th anniversary,” Posner said.
Linton said that while the BBMI is not formally involved with ONAMI or nanoscience research, there may be collaboration in the future.
“We’re trying to develop more connections between the bioscience fields and the nanoscience work we do,” Linton said.
Linton said the BBMI also receives federal funding through the U.S. Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center. Linton said the military is interested in the BBMI research not only for “medical applications in the military, but more generally to society.”
“They are also interested in how learning occurs, and behavior
in stressful environments,”
Linton said.
Posner said the only BBMI program directly involved with the military is the Neuroinformatics Center.
The Neuroinformatics Center, housed in the Riverfront Research Park, uses brain imaging technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and electroencephalography (EEG) to analyze brain function and work toward medical applications relating to strokes, according to the Riverfront Research Park Web site. An EEG records the brain’s electrical activity through electrodes placed on the scalp. Posner said the center’s project transmits EEG information from a Florence, Ore. hospital to Eugene for analysis via remote informatics.
“There’s no real military research going on in any of these constituent groups,” Posner said.

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