Whole-Head MEG System for Brain Research

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of this project is to obtain funds to purchase a whole cortex neuromagnetometer to serve as the primary instrument for magnetoencephalographic recording at the Biomagnetic Imaging Laboratory at the Health Sciences campus of the University of Colorado. This will complement a soon-to-be-installed high field magnetic resonance scanner acquired by the Department of Psychiatry to be used exclusively for research and an existing state-of-the-art PET scanner operated by the Department of Radiology. It is conceived that these instruments will form the core of a Colorado and contiguous Rocky Mountain region brain imaging center. The user group in this application includes 9 full professors, 5 associate professors, 6 assistant professors and 1 instructor, spread across the University of Colorado Health Sciences and Boulder campuses, the University of Denver, Colorado State University, and the University of California at Davis. The acquisition of a whole cortex MEG capability will result in the greatly increased subject throughput necessary to support a user group of this size. In addition, the fact that MEG measurements are made simultaneously around the entire head is a necessary condition for the work envisaged in the areas of anomalous functional lateralization and cortical reorganization/plasticity in mental illness, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, stroke, traumatic brain injury, brain-computer interfacing, autism and developmental disabilities, and adolescent substance abuse. The instrument will be located in the Biomagnetic Imaging Lab in the Department of Psychiatry. Instrument management and scheduling will be supervised by an Advisory Committee established for this purpose.