Big Magnet on Campus

IU's newest magnet was recently flown in from Germany, and it won't be used to attach A+ papers to the refrigerator door.\n"There are only 10 of this particular model in the United States," said Julie Stout, associate professor of \npsychology at IU.\nStout is referring to the newest and most integral component of the new functional magnetic resonance imaging facility under construction in the Psychology building on E. 10th St. The arrival, earlier this week, of the University's eight-ton magnetic imaging apparatus catapults the potential for scientific research on campus to a previously inaccessible realm of possibility. \n"It's a dream come true for all of us, really," Stout said, "It presents incredible opportunities for the campus-wide scientific community and the students alike."\nStout is one of many scientists at IU excited at the prospects of carrying focused studies of the brain to less frequented academic ground. Acquisition of the magnet and construction of the new facility gives IU researchers, psychology-based and otherwise, an unprecedented chance to examine the sometimes elusive on-goings active inside the human brain.\n"We'll be able to take our research well beyond the models available to us in the past," Stout said. "When, for example, we had only understood motor aspects of this degenerative disorder," she added, referring to Huntington's Disease.\nWhereas existing scanning techniques permit researchers to observe computer-generated interpretations of the brain's structural configurations, fMRI allows scientists to more readily assess the neural interplay between different regions of the brain during certain cognitive processes -- decision-making, for example -- Stout said.\n"Post-processing (of the images obtained by fMRI) allows us to superimpose functional images onto structural images to find areas of activation within the brain -- we want to know what neural systems are involved with particular brain structures," Stout said. "Multiple regions of the brain are activated (during a particular task) and they form a neural circuit; these neural circuits could potentially be defined by fMRI."\nOne particular interest of the department is to observe processes involving judgment and decision-making in individuals with a history of substance abuse. Because brain chemistry is affected by the prolonged use of particular substances, changes occurring within the brain could presumably be monitored by fMRI when an individual is prompted to perform a task relevant to the process being observed. \nAmong those at IU to be directly involved with these forthcoming studies are Sharlene Newman, a trained biomedical engineer interested in problem-solving and planning processes, and Tom James, an expert in object recognition. Both individuals have been on site in Bloomington as professors for the past year. Hu Cheng, a physicist trained in MRI, is also on board and set to begin work early next month. Karin James was also recently hired as an additional research scientist. \nTraining will begin for all primary users of the fMRI apparatus Aug. 1, but applied use of the facilities will not ensue until the comprehensive environment is appropriately calibrated. Still, the hum of progress is perceptible throughout the chalky basement.\n"You'll notice it's cold in here," Stout said as she approached what looks to be the early stages of a time machine, "because the apparatus itself needs to be super-cooled."\nThe magnetism required for the production of images is produced by running electric current through a tightly coiled wire that encircles participants within the body of the machine. The principles of this magnetism are elementary, valid for experimentation even at the sixth-grade level. The strength of IU's magnet is decidedly greater.\n"This is a Three Tesla magnet," Stout said, "where a typical clinical magnet is only 1.5 Tesla, ours is twice as strong."\nThe new facility being installed consists of the magnetic apparatus itself, a control room from which the imaging and necessary stimuli for a particular experiment can be controlled, a waiting room and additional changing room for participants in the studies, a few offices and storage spaces and what Stout referred to as a "mock scanner."\n"You can imagine that lying in that enclosure could be somewhat overwhelming -- some people easily become claustrophobic," she said. "It's expensive to operate the scanner, so if you're studying individuals with mental disabilities or perhaps even children, you definitely have to provide an environment in which to acclimate them."\nGaps in the drop-ceiling remain, and a false wall stands where a 10- by 11-foot hole was cut into the brick in order to fit the magnet inside the building. In just a few weeks, however, when training is scheduled to begin, the dust will be cleared and all gadgets will be assembled in working order. Stout, for one, is happily anticipating that day.\n"It looks a little different every time you come down here," she said looking around, visibly pleased with the work, and the immense potential, at hand.