Research Breakthrough:
MRI Machine is available to qualified Researchers
Dr. Layne Kalbfleisch, Director of MRI and Safety
Operations, and MRI Technologist, Marcianne Moe, view
a functional image of the human brain. Photo submitted
by The Krasnow Institute
The new 1.8 million dollar MRI scanner at the Krasnow Institute is available to qualified researchers at Mason, and external researchers. The Neuro Imaging Core of the Krasnow Institute (NICKI) is the scientific governing board for research taking place in the MRI suite. NICKI’s principal investigators assess proposals of scientists, doctors, and psychology professionals interested in collecting their neuroimaging data in the Institute’s MRI suite. The technology, a Siemens Magnetom Allegra 3 Tesla head-only scanner, uses a non-invasive process which allows scientists to visually identify structural and functional properties of the human brain. Because the MRI suite is dedicated to research and located outside of a hospital setting, it is only the third laboratory of its kind in the United States, joining Princeton and Dartmouth.
One of the current research projects being conducted in the suite is in collaboration with the College of Education and Human Development’s, KIDLAB, which seeks to characterize human intelligence by exploring the relationship between talent and disability. KIDLAB does this using behavioral paradigms and fMRI to investigate the cognitive neuroscience of reasoning and attention processes in adults and children. KIDLAB's goal is to contribute new insight into how the brain develops, learns, creates, and solves problems throughout the life span under normal circumstances and in the cases of pathologies such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, autism, and Alzheimer's Disease.
New research projects using the MRI scanner start with a research proposal to NICKI. Interested principal investigators (PIs) should contact Dr. Layne Kalbfleisch, Co-Director of the Neuro Imaging Core of the Krasnow Institute. NICKI is comprised of the following faculty: Dr. Layne Kalbfleisch and Kevin McCabe, Co-Directors; Giorgio Ascoli; Juan Cebral; James Thompson; James Olds; and Ken Dejong.
If you would like to collaborate or apply the suite's technology and resources to your own research program,
NICKI’s web address is:
http://krasnow.gmu.edu/nicki
If you would like to learn more about the KIDLAB Laboratory:
http://krasnow.gmu.edu/kidlab
View The Mason Gazette article on the MRI's arrival:
http://gazette.gmu.edu/articles/8384/