Thomas Patterson Emerald
A new $2.5 million brain scanner resides in Straub Hall. The functional magnetic resonance imaging machine is designed for research into
the workings of the brain when subjects perform certain activities, but not for helping with clinical diagnoses.
fMRI sheds new light on brain
■ Researchers can use a new
imaging system to study
perception more effectively
By Eric Martin
Oregon Daily Emerald
University psychology and bi
ology researchers are using a so
phisticated imaging machine to
better examine how the brain
functions in the hope of yielding
answers to some confounding
cognitive questions.
Lead researchers are testing the
functional magnetic resonance im
aging machine, or fMRI, and said
they hope to have it ready for ap
proved research projects in the
next four weeks.
The $2.5 million brain scanner
is the centerpiece in an interdisci
plinary research endeavor aimed
at forming a better understanding
of how humans think, learn and
create. It’s also only the second
such machine in the nation
housed at a non-medical school.
The other is in the psychology de
partment at Princeton University.
Private donors and government
agencies such as the Department of
Defense and National Institutes of
Health are funding the roughly $20
million project, called the Brain,
Biology and Machine Initiative.
“It’s something that has a lot of
really interesting applications,”
Vice President for Research and
Graduate Studies Rich Linton said.
“From the most basic point of
view, how the brain functions is
universally important.”
Results of fMRI studies could
enhance teaching and learning
methods. The answers could pro
vide clues to better understand
how humans perceive their sur
roundings. The work may estab
lish more concrete biological evi
dence of the effects on the brain of
illegal and prescription drugs.
MRI facility Director and re
search associate Ray Nunnally said
each study is a brush stroke in a
mural of the brain’s unrealized and
unmapped potential. Nunnally
said he has worked with MRI
Turn to fMRI, page 6
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