Institutional Center Cores for Advanced Neuroimaging

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The general aim of this proposal is to establish NINDS Institutional Center Core facilities that will augment the unique resources that exist at the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR), University of Minnesota, for biomedical imaging, so as to maximize their utilization and impact on a large number of NINDS funded research projects on normal brain function and neurological disorders. This aim is based on the premise that developments in the last two decades have generated a plethora of magnetic resonance (MR) techniques, such as functional brain imaging (fMRI), neurochemical spectroscopy, perfusion imaging, diffusion imaging etc., that provide indispensable and otherwise unavailable measurement capabilities for studies of the brain in humans and in animal models of human diseased states. However, optimal use of these techniques requires advanced instrumentation, unique expertise, and complex auxiliary capabilities that include complementary measurements employing classical techniques (e.g. electrophysiology, and histology) and other imaging modalities such as PET. Access to these instrumentation and methodologies, especially at the cutting-edge, is virtually impossible in individual labs and requires interdisciplinary interactions in the area of spin-physics, RF engineering, signal and image processing, and brain sciences. The aim of this grant is to provide this access within the cooperative, multidisciplinary, and interactive research environment of CMRR, so as to enrich the effectiveness of and promote new research directions in a large number of ongoing NINDS funded research projects.