Neuroscience Cores For MR Studies of the Brain

特别是自功能磁共振成像(FMRI)问世以来，大量的磁共振(MR)技术，如神经化学波谱、灌注成像、血管解剖成像、扩散成像和功能成像等，在神经科学中发挥着不可或缺的作用。此外，其中许多方法，即使是在7特斯拉这样的超高领域，也正迅速从物理学家开展的技术开发领域，转变为一群没有磁共振物理学专业知识的神经科学研究人员经常使用的不可或缺的工具。当代在神经科学研究中使用这种磁共振方法需要巨大的辅助支持，包括复杂的动物手术、人类和动物模型研究的侵入性输液、大规模数据和图像处理以及补充的非磁共振测量(例如电生理学、光学成像、组织学等)。这项建议的目的是建立神经科学核心设施，以增强位于明尼苏达大学磁共振研究中心(CMRR)的现有最先进和独特的磁共振仪器资源，使大量神经科学研究人员能够访问和利用CMRR，A6资源，并最大限度地发挥现代磁共振技术在神经科学发现中的影响。

Especially since the introduction of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a plethora of magnetic resonance (MR) techniques, such as neurochemical spectroscopy, perfusion imaging, imaging of vascular anatomy, diffusion imaging and functional imaging etc., have come to play an indispensable role in neurosciences. Furthermore, many of these methodologies, even at ultrahigh fields such as 7 Tesla, are rapidly moving from the domain of technique development carried out by MR physicist to become an indispensable tool employed routinely by a community of neuroscience researchers without expertise in MR physics. Contemporary use of such MR methodologies in neuroscience research requires immense auxiliary support that includes complex animal surgery, invasive infusions in humans and animal model studies, large scale data and image processing, and complementary non-MR measurements (e.g. electrophysiology, optical imaging, histology etc.). The aim of this proposal is to establish Neuroscience CORE facilities that will augment the existing state-of-the art and unique MR instrumentation resources located in the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research (CMRR) at the University of Minnesota, so as to enable access and utilization of CMRR,A6s resources by a large community of neuroscience researchers, and maximize the impact of modern MR techniques in neuroscience discovery.