MRI: Acquisition of a 3.0 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging Scanner

该合同允许阿拉巴马大学获得3.0特斯拉磁共振成像(MRI)系统。在亚利桑那大学建立核磁共振研究设施将是亚利桑那大学人类神经科学研究的一个重要新方向，并允许在大型多地点项目上与其他机构合作。UA的神经成像设施将为UA的神经科学倡议(例如，神经科学研究生研究、神经科学本科生辅修、教育神经科学本科生和研究生课程)提供亟需的推动。3.0T磁共振成像系统将在最初支持和推进的具体项目之外对外地产生持久影响。最重要的是，共享像核磁共振扫描仪这样的关键研究工具可以创建一个平台，加快神经成像实验室的概念和方法开发，利用加州大学和该地区其他大学提供的卓越人才库。建立神经成像研究环境将成为培养对神经科学研究感兴趣的本科生和研究生的催化剂，包括女性和代表性不足的少数族裔学生。这也将为培训来自附近历史悠久的黑人学院的学生提供机会，如斯蒂尔曼学院和阿拉巴马州的其他类似大学。在亚利桑那大学建立神经成像环境，除了促进神经科学研究外，还将为周边农村社区以及来自阿拉巴马州农村地区的学生提供参与研究的机会。拟议的磁共振成像系统将在亚利桑那大学促进基础和翻译层面的跨学科协作研究项目。亚利桑那大学的下列研究项目将利用核磁共振系统：1)多尺度神经处理以及健康个体和障碍患者的语言处理和阅读理解的神经生物学；2)开发大脑算法以改进自然语言处理；3)数学认知的神经生物学基础，特别强调数字和算术的体现；4)检查与健康衰老、记忆和注意力相关的认知和神经变化；5)调查终生压力、大脑老化和大脑老化的种族差异；6)生物医学成像分析和形状可控的磁性纳米粒子用于磁共振成像；以及7)健康个体和疾病患者的社会脑的发育神经生物学。磁共振成像系统将加强UA不同学校、学院和系之间的合作，包括心理学、教育学、沟通障碍、生物科学和工程学。该项目由主要研究仪器计划和既定的激励竞争研究计划(EPSCoR)联合资助。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This award permits the University of Alabama to acquire a 3.0 Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) system. Establishing an MRI research facility at UA will be a significant new direction in human neuroscience research at UA as well as allow for collaboration with other institutions on large multi-site projects. A neuroimaging facility at UA will provide a much-needed boost to the neuroscience initiatives (e.g., graduate research in neuroscience, undergraduate neuroscience minor, undergraduate and graduate programs in educational neuroscience) at UA. The 3.0T MRI system will have a lasting impact on the field beyond the specific projects that will be initially supported and advanced. Most importantly, sharing a critical research tool like the MRI scanner creates a platform to accelerate conceptual and methodological development across neuroimaging laboratories, capitalizing on the exceptional pool of talent available at UA and other universities in the region. Building a neuroimaging research environment will be a catalyst for training undergraduate and graduate students interested in neuroscience research, including women and underrepresented minority students. This will also provide opportunities for training students from historically black colleges nearby, such as Stillman College and other such universities in the state of Alabama. Establishing a neuroimaging environment at UA will, in addition to facilitating neuroscience research, provide opportunities for the surrounding rural communities to participate in research as well as students from rural areas in Alabama.The proposed MRI system will stimulate interdisciplinary collaborative research projects at the basic and translational levels at UA. The following research projects at UA will utilize the MRI system: 1) Multiscale neural processing and the neurobiology of language processing and reading comprehension in healthy individuals and in disorders; 2) Developing brain algorithms to improve natural language processing; 3) Neurobiological bases of mathematical cognition, with specific emphasis on embodiment of number and arithmetic; 4) Examining the cognitive and neural changes associated with healthy aging, memory and attention; 5) Investigating lifetime stress, brain aging, and the racial differences underlying brain aging; 6) Biomedical imaging analysis and development of shape-controlled magnetic nanoparticles for MRI; and 7) Developmental neurobiology of social brain in healthy individuals and in disorders. The MRI system will enhance the collaboration across different schools, colleges and departments at UA, including Psychology, Education, Communicative Disorders, Biological Sciences, and Engineering.This project is jointly funded by the Major Research Instrumentation Program and the Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR).This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.