World class brain research center for Wales, UK

Main Category: Psychology / Psychiatry
Article Date: 25 Jun 2004 - 16:00 PDT


A plan to establish a new center in Wales - that will benefit people who suffer from brain injury and mental disorders - has been backed by the United Kingdom government.

A grant of $15 million to help build the ground-breaking research facility in Cardiff was announced by Science & Innovation Minister Lord Sainsbury.

The Cardiff University Brain and Repair Imaging Center will be the first in the UK to combine two state-of-the-art brain-scanning systems to gain a better understanding of how the brain works. It is hoped that work there will lead to improved treatments for conditions such as strokes, multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer's disease and for patients with schizophrenia.

The funding has been given to Cardiff University and the University of Wales College of Medicine to help them make the most of their forthcoming merger.

Research at the centre will be of benefit to colleagues in academic disciplines across the merged university including behavioral neurosciences, cognitive science, education, psychology, linguistics, biology, and clinical research in neurology, optometry, psychiatry, neurosurgery, neuro-oncology, genetics, gerontology, and rehabilitative medicine.

Lord Sainsbury said: "This award for new ground-breaking equipment recognizes the outstanding work that Cardiff University and the University of Wales College of Medicine have already carried out in the field of brain research.

"The center will help both organizations maximize the benefits of merger, and keep both UK science and the work that is being carried out in Cardiff at the cutting edge of research worldwide."

The Cardiff University Brain and Repair Imaging Center, which is expected to cost around $18 million in total, will be based in Cardiff University's School of Psychology.

The eight million pounds award will be used mainly to cover the cost and installation of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and magneto encephalography (MEG) technology equipment. The remaining costs of building and staffing the center will be met by funds from the School of Psychology and from university resources earmarked for merger-related projects, as well as $1.1 million of other funding by the Department of Trade & Industry.

The project director at the Cardiff University, Professor Peter Halligan, said: "In bringing together these two highly sophisticated pieces of equipment, we are creating a facility as advanced as any of its kind in Europe and North America - a facility that offers new opportunities for collaboration across a range of disciplines. The combination of these systems will put Cardiff, and Wales, at the international forefront of developments in brain imaging for the cognitive, social and clinical neurosciences."

Professor Halligan, from the School of Psychology, added: "The distinctive contribution of fMRI lies in its ability to generate high resolution 3D images of the brain involving critical brain areas employed during sensory, motor and cognitive tasks. Although fMRI is the preferred technique in locating brain processes involved in tasks, the potential benefits of integrating fMRI with the millisecond precision of MEG will enable us to examine and understand the many discrete brain process involved.

"The availability of these facilities will be a boost for the whole scientific community and will further enable Cardiff and Wales to compete internationally and attract world class researchers," he added.

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