This award provides support to George Mason University for the acquisition of a high performance 3 Tesla (3T), whole body Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scanner to support innovative, transformative research into brain and body. The new 3T MRI system, along with sophisticated coils and software, will be the centerpiece of an Interdisciplinary Multimodal Imaging Center (IMIC). MRI allows detailed, noninvasive imaging of brain and body anatomy and connectivity; function via blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) responses; and metabolism via magnetic resonance spectroscopy. GMU scientists, representing more than eight disciplines across five colleges, will benefit from this award by collaborating to conduct cross-cutting interdisciplinary research on groundbreaking associations between brain and body. The 3T MRI scanner will also enable researchers at GMU to conduct innovative training of undergraduates, graduate students, and junior scientists in brain-body science approaches. This group of researchers all take advantage of our location in the Northern VA/Washington DC region to study sample diverse in age, disability status, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.
One central theme to the research of GMU investigators is to understand the interrelations of brain and body functions from a biological, psychological, and social perspective, and the alterations of those relationships in the presence of acute and chronic stress, trauma, and pain. Examples of the interdisciplinary research programs that will significantly benefit from this instrumentation include: those examining interactions between brain and peripheral nervous systems following stress and trauma; central and peripheral pain perception; neural, gene, and protein networks and social ties; neurodevelopment and head impacts; and sensorimotor integration and control. These and the other MRI research programs at GMU will be greatly advanced by the acquisition of a Siemens MAGNETOM Prisma 3T scanner, which offers industry-leading gradient performance, parallel imaging capabilities, and a supportive and innovative sequence development community. To address the big data challenges posed by the research outlined in this proposal, a data analytics core will be established, comprised of computer scientists, engineers, and biostaticians, to facilitate data handling and storage, and to develop new techniques for the analysis and integration of MRI and related biological, physiological, and behavioral data.
This MRI award is supported by the Directorate for Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences (SBE) Division of Behavioral and Cognitive Sciences (BCS), The Directorate for Engineering (ENG) and the ENG Division of Chemical, Bioengineering, Environmental and Transport Systems (CBET).
