Significant research equipment has been moving into the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute for weeks. A magnetic resonance imaging machine (MRI) was delivered last week, in what might be termed a dramatic move-in. It required a crane lifting it into a large opening in the side of the building. A second will be delivered in December.
The powerful brain scanner is a critical tool which will be used for unparalleled new programs, including the Roanoke Brain Study. “The research will include a large scale worldwide analysis of the development of human brain function and decision-making,” said Michael J. Friedlander, executive director of the research institute.
They will be part of the new Human Neuroimaging Laboratory and Computational Psychiatry Unit to be directed by Read Montague, developer of the process known as hyperscanning. Read joined the institute as a professor Nov. 15, and also is a professor of physics at Virginia Tech.
The Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute investigators will functionally interconnect the two Roanoke MRIs with one that was installed in October at the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center in Blacksburg. “These interconnections allow investigators to carry out interactive functional brain imaging studies between multiple individuals at different sites simultaneously, providing unparalleled access to monitor the brain’s activity during social interactions where pairs of groups of individuals communicate with each other through computer interfaces,” said Friedlander.
