Our functional magnetic resonance imaging and spectroscopy program takes advantage of Canada's only 4Tesla MRI facility. It is one of only 8 such systems in the world. Projects underway in the 4Tesla MR facility provide a good fit for students with strong backgrounds in engineerign, physical biochemistry, computer science and physics within the context of clinical neuroscience and neuropsychiatry.
Mental events take time.
Even the seemingly simple act of seeing involves some tens of milliseconds from the time light enters the eye to our conscious perception of an object. In the retina, light is first converted into the electrochemical signals used by the brain and these signals are then sent to various relay stations and to regions of the visual cortex where brain activity leads to our perception. This research will open up a whole new dimension of brain imaging - we will be able to study the space and time of brain activity underlying mental events. Students involved in this project will need good computer skills and a desire to learn advanced signal processing techniques and apply them to human research. Functional MRI is a noninvasive method of studying how the brain works.