此研究的主要目標是要建?新的造影技術?偵測大腦的結構與功能性運作，包括解剖結構、?經活化、?經迴?、與?經可塑性。為達到這個目的，將需要開發許多技術，以最少侵入性的原則?研究大腦的結構與功能，此外，這些研究將使我們??解開發中的大腦結構與功能造影技術的適用性。現存新的分子造影策?顯示?以非侵入性技術?造影?鼠大腦?經迴?的可?性，結合大腦擴散磁振造影技術，過去需要侵入性的?片以及耗時的電生?實驗資?，將可以改用非侵入性的方式，並且?快速的取得。這些新發展技術的焦點將包含錳?子增強磁振造影(manganese enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, MEMRI)、擴散譜磁振造影(diffusion spectrum imaging, DSI)、與q面磁振造影(q-planar imaging, QPI)，磁振造影可以提供高解析?與非破壞性的大腦造影，而這些在發展運用於?鼠?大腦的磁振造影的技術在未?可以運用至人腦造影的?床用途上。此外，我們也將使用光學顯微影像作為輔助的資訊，?解釋與驗證磁振造影的結果。這些新的造影技術的發展將研究於正常?鼠大腦與因為學習或?經可塑性或特定基因造成變化的大腦。以下為研究的三個主要目標：第一?：發展磁振造影與光學造影工具?幫助?解大腦功能活化區。第二?：開發可以提供?經迴?與?經結構資訊的磁振造影策?。第三?：這個目標長期的目的是要應用我們發展的磁振造影技術?研究?鼠大腦的學習與?經可塑性。
The overall objectives of this study are to develop novel imaging techniques to monitor structural and functional processes of the brain, including anatomy, neural activity, neural circuitry, and neural plasticity. The development of these technologies should provide a larger array of techniques that can be used to study brain structure and function in minimally invasive ways. In addition, the planned studies will allow us to better understand the range of applicability of new brain structural and functional imaging techniques that are developed. Exciting new molecular imaging strategies show great promise for enabling non-invasive techniques to map neural circuits throughout the rodent brain non-invasively. Combined with established whole brain diffusion imaging techniques, it is becoming possible to get an increasing range of information non-invasively that in the past required invasive histology or time consuming electrophysiology. The focus of these new developments is on manganese enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (MEMRI), diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI) and q-planar imaging (QPI) that affords a high-resolution view of the whole brain non-destructively and MRI techniques developed in rodents can often be extended for use in humans in the future. In addition to MRI, optical microscopy from the exposed rodent brain will be used to add complementary information to help interpret and understand MRI results. The development of these new imaging techniques will be used to study the normal rodent brain and changes in the brain that occur during learning and plasticity or due to specific genetic changes. There are three major goals of the proposed work: The first tear: Develop MRI and optical imaging tools to help understand active areas of the brain. The second year: Developing MRI strategies that give information about neural circuitry and neuro- architecture. The third year: The long term ambition of this goal is to apply our newly developed MRI techniques to study learning and plasticity in the rodent brain.
