MRI: Acquisition of Magnetoencephalography (MEG) Scanner for Brain Research at MIT

MRI：麻省理工学院购买脑磁图 (MEG) 扫描仪用于大脑研究

• 批准号: 0922263
• 负责人: John Gabrieli
• 金额: $ 136.5万
• 依托单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2009-09-01 至 2011-05-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0922263&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: MRI; Acquisition; Magnetoencephalography; MEG; Scanner

This award provides funds which permit Drs John Gabrieli and Robert Desimone to purchase an Elekta Neuromag system for human brain imaging. The instrument will be integrated into the Martinos Imaging Center at MIT and will complement the Center's existing neuroimaging capabilities currently based on magnetic resonance imaging. The Neuromag has 306 MEG channels plus up to 124 channels for simultaneous EEG. Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is a powerful technology for noninvasive imaging of human brain activity. It measures magnetic signals given off by active brain cells and it combines good spatial with very high temporal resolution. In particular, MEG makes it possible to study the flow of information through the brain during cognitive tasks and can reveal the high-frequency oscillations which are fundamental to the physiological mechanism by which different brain areas communicate with each other. The technique therefore is extremely well suited to answering a wide range of basic questions about human brain function. For example it has made important contributions in areas such as somatosensory and auditory processing, and particularly in the study of language, a distinctively human capability for which the rapid neural processes involved are not well resolved by fMRI. It is also possible to use this technique on children, including newborns, and this approach has the potential to transform understanding of early brain development including development of perceptual abilities, language and many other aspects of brain function.Although the justification for purchase of this instrument rests on the basic research which will be performed and the insights into normal brain functioning which will result, MEG also has clinical applications. It is a potentially powerful tool for translational research, for example for identifying patterns of brain activity that might serve as biomarkers for brain disorders. The instrumentation can also be used to study the neural effects of educational interventions in such areas as reading or musical training and as a basis for developing human brain-machine interfaces.

该奖项为John Gabrieli博士和Robert Desimone博士购买Elekta Neuromag系统用于人脑成像提供了资金。该仪器将被整合到麻省理工学院的Martinos成像中心，并将补充该中心现有的基于磁共振成像的神经成像能力。Neuromag有306个MEG通道加上124个同时进行的EEG通道。脑磁图（MEG）是一种强大的无创人脑活动成像技术。它测量活跃的脑细胞发出的磁信号，并结合了良好的空间分辨率和非常高的时间分辨率。特别是，MEG使研究认知任务期间大脑中的信息流成为可能，并可以揭示高频振荡，这是大脑不同区域相互交流的生理机制的基础。因此，这项技术非常适合回答关于人类大脑功能的一系列基本问题。例如，它在体感和听觉处理等领域做出了重要贡献，特别是在语言研究方面，这是一种人类特有的能力，其中涉及的快速神经过程并没有被功能磁共振成像很好地解决。这项技术也可以用于儿童，包括新生儿，这种方法有可能改变对早期大脑发育的理解，包括感知能力、语言和大脑功能的许多其他方面的发展。尽管购买这台仪器的理由取决于将要进行的基础研究以及由此产生的对正常大脑功能的见解，但MEG也有临床应用。它是一种潜在的强大的转化研究工具，例如，用于识别可能作为大脑疾病生物标志物的大脑活动模式。该仪器还可用于研究阅读或音乐训练等领域教育干预的神经效应，并作为开发人脑-机器接口的基础。