Acquisition of an fMRI Basic Research Imaging System at the University of Southern California

南加州大学购置功能磁共振成像基础研究成像系统

• 批准号: 0420794
• 负责人: Irving Biederman
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Southern California
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2004
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2004-08-01 至 2008-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0420794&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Acquisition; fMRI; Basic; Research; Imaging

With support from a National Science Major Research Instrumentation Award, Professor Irving Biederman and his colleagues at the University of Southern California will purchase a state of the art three Tesla functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) system for the scientific investigation of how cognitive, emotional, perceptual, memory, linguistic, and motor capacities emerge from activity of the human brain.Joining Professor Biederman and his Co-PIs Z.-L. Lu, L. Itti, A. Raine, and M. Arbib as users of the fMRI system will be members of a variety of academic units including the Neuroscience Program, the Departments of Psychology, Computer Science, Biology, Gerontology, Biomedical Engineering, Kinesiology, Electrical Engineering, and the House Ear Institute, Currently the community of interested users includes approximately 30 faculty and over 100 graduate and post-doctoral students. This on-campus facility will not only allow these research programs to proceed but will provide the capability for the development of imaging expertise within this community. The magnet will be available to researchers from other institutions as well. The ability to probe the activity-not just the structure-of the intact human brain has been one of the great methodological advances of neuroscience in the past decade. The instrument will provide high-resolution images of brain structures but its primary use will be to assess functioning of the brain as subjects experience various stimuli or perform various tasks while the system measures neural activity at specific brain loci in the order of a few millimeters. Among the first of the research projects that will be launched once the system is installed is one focusing on regions of the prefrontal cortex known to modulate restraint and an appreciation of the consequences of one's own actions for individuals with and without a propensity for impulsive violence. Other studies are designed to understand how an image of a scene, never perceived previously, could be comprehended in a fraction of a section. Another will assess whether brain-produced opiates in areas that mediate comprehension provide the perceptual and cognitive pleasure associated with novel but interpretable experiences. Another study is motivated by the finding that neurons in monkey cortex involved in the production of certain motor movements, such as grasping, also fire when the monkey views the grasp of another organism. This research will evaluate whether such "mirror" neurons might be the core imitative capacity fundamental to the evolution of language. Still another investigation will focus on where and how "episodic memory"-the mental diaries of our lives-are produced and stored in the brain.Plans for the operation of the magnet, to be housed in the Dana and David Dornsife Cognitive Neuroscience Imaging Center, will include instructional courses designed to give hands-on training and research experience to undergraduate as well as graduate students. Special outreach programs are designed to involve qualified high school students from the local community as part of an effort to provide opportunities for underrepresented minorities to be counted among the next generation of scientists advancing our knowledge of cognitive and behavioral neuroscience.

在国家科学重大研究仪器奖的支持下，南加州大学的欧文比德曼教授和他的同事将购买最先进的三特斯拉功能磁共振成像（fMRI）系统，用于科学调查认知、情感、知觉、记忆、语言、和运动能力从人类大脑的活动中产生。加入Biederman教授和他的合作PI Z.- L.卢湖，加-地Itti，A. Raine和M. Arbib作为功能磁共振成像系统的用户将成为各种学术单位的成员，包括神经科学计划，心理学，计算机科学，生物学，老年学，生物医学工程，运动学，电气工程和House Ear研究所，目前感兴趣的用户社区包括大约30名教师和100多名研究生和博士后学生。 这个校园内的设施不仅可以让这些研究项目进行，但将提供成像专业知识在这个社区的发展能力。磁铁也将提供给其他机构的研究人员。在过去的十年里，探测完整人脑的活动而不仅仅是结构的能力是神经科学在方法上的重大进步之一。 该仪器将提供大脑结构的高分辨率图像，但其主要用途将是评估大脑的功能，因为受试者经历各种刺激或执行各种任务，同时系统测量特定大脑部位的神经活动，大约为几毫米。 一旦该系统安装完毕，将启动的首批研究项目之一是专注于前额叶皮层的区域，该区域已知可调节有和无冲动暴力倾向的个人的约束和对自己行为后果的评价。其他研究旨在了解如何一个场景的图像，以前从未感知过，可以理解的一部分。 另一项研究将评估大脑在介导理解的区域产生的阿片类药物是否提供了与新颖但可解释的体验相关的感知和认知愉悦。 另一项研究的动机是发现，当猴子看到另一种生物体的抓握时，猴子皮层中参与产生某些运动运动（如抓握）的神经元也会放电。 这项研究将评估这种“镜像”神经元是否可能是语言进化的核心模仿能力。 还有一项研究将集中在“情景记忆”--我们生活中的精神日记--在大脑中产生和储存的位置和方式。磁铁的操作计划将设在达纳和大卫多恩西夫认知神经科学成像中心，将包括旨在为本科生和研究生提供实践培训和研究经验的教学课程。 特殊的外展计划旨在让当地社区的合格高中生参与进来，作为努力的一部分，为代表性不足的少数民族提供机会，让他们成为下一代科学家，推动我们对认知和行为神经科学的了解。