Core C: Translational Neurosciences Core

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The Translational Neuroscience Core will: 1) provide IDDRC investigators with facilities and services to support their individual human neuroimaging and psychophysiological research programs in the area of intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD); 2) continue to develop trans-species methods for acquiring neuroimaging and psychophysiological measures in humans with IDD and IDD mouse models; 3) utilize repositories of ‘big data’ at Vanderbilt to develop new tools and discoveries for IDD; 4) facilitate interdisciplinary collaborations among IDDRC investigators who may or may not have neuroimaging expertise; and 5) ensure that the services provided are timely, highest quality, and cost-effective. The Translational Neuroscience Core C will support P50 users in the above areas for magnetic resonance (MR) neuroimaging as well as psychophysiological measures. The Core’s services can be broadly construed into two different categories: (1) those that are responsive to investigators’ needs and (2) those that are generative, and provide new directions in IDD for investigators to leverage. Investigator need-based services provided include assistance in (a) experimental design, including selecting appropriate tasks for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or electroencephalogram (EEG)/event-related potentials (ERP), (b) identification of the optimal modalities of MR imaging or EEG/ERP/eye tracking acquisition parameters (c) implementation of MRI and EEG/ERP data collection with special populations (individuals with various IDDs, especially infants and children), and (d) management and analysis of MRI and EEG/ERP/eye tracking data. The generative and innovative component of the Translational Neuroscience Core C focuses on key areas that are of particular interest for IDD researchers: design of novel experimental paradigms optimized for IDDs, expanding trans-species imaging capabilities, implementing and augmenting novel data acquisition and analysis methods for measuring neural biomarkers of IDD, developing robust image processing techniques to handle challenging data (e.g., movement artifacts), and providing tools to enable optimal establishment, usage, and analysis of ‘big data’ repositories such as ImageVU. While expertise and resources in neuroimaging, advanced computing, and data management tools are available at Vanderbilt University, none are tailored for the special needs of those who study IDDs. The Aims and services in Core C all have the central goal: facilitate cost-efficient discovery that leads to the prevention and/or amelioration of IDD. Each member of the Core has strong ties to the larger Vanderbilt community, thus enabling seamless linkages between entities at Vanderbilt that are critical for the Core. The Core will serve 22 funded IDD research-related projects.