Discovery

Mapping the Mind

Imagine a movie of the mind, computer images tracking the activity of the human brain. That’s exactly what researchers at the Robert and Beverly Lewis Center for Neuroimaging are developing.

The center is part of the Brain, Biology, Machine Initiative, a research effort bringing together the university’s top scientists in molecular biology, cognitive neuroscience, genomics, optics, and computational science to study how genetic factors affect brain development. Made possible by a gift from Robert and Beverly Lewis, the facility is the only one of its kind in the Northwest. Completed in 2002, the center houses a functional MRI, an instrument that uses powerful magnets to take pictures of the brain in action.

These pictures could answer fundamental questions about the human mind. And the answers to these questions could lead to better teaching methods, new treatments for stroke victims, and new hope for people with impaired vision and hearing.