Pilot Grant for the Development of a High-Field fMRI Facility for Interdisciplinary Human Brain Studies

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Within the last 20 years, our ability to link mental functions to neurological substrates has been dramatically improved by a variety of new technologies. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in particular provides us, for the first time, the capability to link the functional, anatomical, and behavioral aspects of brain function. The ultimate objective of this proposal is to establish a human fMRI facility in the Beckman Institute that will provide the neuroscience community with a critical research tool to unravel the mystery of brain function. In this SGER proposal we will take the first steps to build this facility by establishing a research partnership with the Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, IL to use its MRI facility as a "test-bed" for fMRI. UIUC cognitive neuroscientists have developed a set of fMRI paradigms, already tested on either neuropsychological populations and/or at other MRI facilities (Univ. of Minnesota, Univ. of Chicago), that will be implemented on the GE Signa 1.5 T clinical MRI system at the Carle Foundation Hospital. The Carle MRI system will be upgraded with an advanced gradient set (Signa Horizon) for high speed imaging, purchased jointly by Carle and UIUC, to permit state-of- the-art fMRI to be achieved. This SGER proposal is needed to obtain funds to complete the initial cooperative studies that will prepare the way for a future ARI proposal. We have a very strong group of physical scientists in the Magnetic Resonance Engineering Laboratory, the Biomedical Magnetic Resonance Laboratory and the Image Processing Laboratory who have been instrumental in pioneering new data acquisition methods, digital signal processing routines, and RF coil design and modeling approaches. With the existing interdisciplinary team of neuroscientists and engineers within the Beckman Institute, and the collaboration of Carle Radiologists and GE Medical Systems personnel, we are poised to push the fMRI technology to the limits of its potential a nd make use of this unprecedented opportunity to advance our knowledge of human brain function.