Title: Magnetic resonance imaging and in vivo spectroscopy methods for neuroimaging and multimodal neuroscience studies

Project Overview: 

This FAPESP/Birmingham/Nottingham grant was designed to promote scientific interaction between the leading imaging (principally Magnetic Resonance) groups in São Paulo State (Campinas and USP) and the universities of Birmingham and Nottingham. It was awarded in 2013 and developed through exchange visits and a joint workshop.

By bringing together complementary expertise in neuroscience and MRI physics the project aims to develop the next generation of multimodal neuroimaging tools to improve the physiological specificity and spatiotemporal resolution needed to characterise the full complexity of the brain.

Some of the specific activities undertaken include:

• Prof Carlos Salmon, Head of MRI Physics at Ribeiro Preto, one of the largest hospitals in Brazil, visited the Sir Peter Mansfield Imaging Centre. He interacted closely with Nottingham's MR spectroscopy group, building on its work to optimise the use of multi-element coils for localised spectroscopy, and developed new approaches for measurement of brain lactate concentration. Both led to conference presentations at the Annual Meeting of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (Toronto, 2015) and are in preparation for full publication. 
• Development of MRI-based methods for presurgical evaluation and understanding the pathophysiology of epilepsy. A joint project building on work funded by the EPSRC has already taken place, involving patients with idiopathic generalised epilepsy being scanned at UNICAMP. This work is being prepared for publication, with a conference abstract intended to be submitted to Human Brain Mapping, followed by a journal publication.