3.0-Tesla Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
The Imaging unit is home to a 3T Phillips Elition Scanner, installed in July 2019, and recently updated to the latest software. With multi-band and multi-echo sequences, increased signal-to-noise due to a fully digital acquisition, and the improvements in spatial and temporal resolution this brings, the scanner also includes a full suite of structural and metabolic mapping tools, including edited spectroscopy for measurement of GABA and other small concentration metabolites. Continued investment has also seen new equipment for intensive physiologic investigation being bought in, with a portable and MRI-compatible fNIRS system, MRI-compatible “atmosphere” modifying system, improved audio presentation capabilities, and specialized physiologic recording instrumentation, turning the MRI suite into a de-facto environmental chamber.
Neuronavigated Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS)
Down the hall from our MRI suite is our Brain Stimulation lab, complete with multiple transcranial magnetic stimulators, and a Brainsight neuronavigation system for functional and anatomical MRI-guided brain stimulation. It makes it possible for researchers to better understand whether particular brain areas are necessary in supporting particular behaviours, thought and learning processes, and perceptual experiences by short-lived non-invasive alterations of brain activity in an area of interest.
Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS)
Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) involves the application of weak electrical currents applied to the surface of a participant’s head. Similar to repetitive TMS described above, tDCS is used to temporarily change the functional ‘state’ of a brain area, making the area more or less responsive. As such, researchers can use tDCS to learn whether and how changing the responsiveness of a particular part of the brain influences particular behaviours, thought processes, and perceptual experiences.
Functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS)
The new portable and MRI compatible fNIRS device allows blood flow and oxygenation status to be collected both in the MRI scanner, and in simulated environmental settings. This allows greater scope for the range of stressors tested (temperature, exertion, dehydration, impacts of disease). The device also allows a range of other research avenues - neurofeedback experiments to improve task-based efficiency, monitoring of cerebral responses in pharmaco-physiology studies, and monitoring functional changes in occupational rehabilitation after acquired brain injury, or in Parkinson’s disease. To complement this increased ability to measure cerebral physiology, we have improved instrumentation to manipulate and measure other aspects of basic physiology, such as increased exertion (MRI compatible exercise bike), changes in atmosphere breathed (MRI compatible gas delivery device), heart rate, blood pressure, temperature and blood oxygenation (MRI compatible physiologic monitoring).
Mock MRI Scanner
When using the MRI scanner to take images of the brain, it is of vital importance that participants keep their head (and body) as still as possible. Our state-of-the-art mock scanner is equipped with a sound system to play scanner sounds and MoTrak, a software which allows fine-grained head motion tracking. It is designed to familiarise participants, particularly children, with being in the scanner environment.