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The Dartmouth Brain Imaging Center
History of the Center
In November of 1999, Dartmouth College became the first liberal arts school in the country to own and operate an MRI machine for strictly research purposes. Since then, Dartmouth faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students have all used the Dartmouth Brain Imaging Center (DBIC) magnet to research everything from the concept of "free will" to morality (Wheatley Lab) to how amygdala dysfunction can lead to anxiety disorders (Whalen Lab), and many, many subjects in between. Non-Dartmouth investigators may also use the center provided they do so under a collaborative agreement with a Dartmouth faculty member. The Center is housed within the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences (PBS) and can be found in the basement of Moore Hall.
The DBIC first opened under the direction of Scott Grafton with a 1.5 T GE MRI machine. The center is supported by Dartmouth College and The College of Arts and Sciences and is located in beautiful Moore Hall. Since its opening, DBIC has upgraded to a state-of-the-art 3.0 T Philips MRI machine and Scott Grafton and former Dartmouth Cognitive Neurosciences Director Michael Gazzaniga have moved onto warmer climates at UCSB. Professor George Wolford served as the interim director until the current director, Jim Haxby, arrived in January, 2008.
Center Overview
Dartmouth College is extremely fortunate to have a brain imaging center completely dedicated to research. This focus creates opportunities for undergraduate, graduate, and faculty research available at few (if any) other institutions. Almost half of the undergraduate honor's theses in the last 3-4 years have used the magnet. Most studies are conducted on healthy subjects, although some have been conducted on patient populations. Students are often recruited as volunteers and given a small stipend or "T-points" (which count towards extra credit in some psychology classes) for their participation.
In the past eight years, researchers have performed thousands of scans. Pigs, monkeys, and even a bear head have been scanned for anatomic research, and some generous volunteers have been scanned upwards of 100 times.
Read a Dartmouth News story on the DBIC here.
About the Center
The Imaging Center facility is available for use by Dartmouth College students, graduate students and faculty members. Non-Dartmouth investigators may also use the center provided they do so under a collaborative agreement with a Dartmouth faculty member. Policies and procedures to use the resources of the imaging center are now available for download. The Center is supported by Dartmouth College and the College of Arts and Sciences.
We are located in the basement of Moore Hall, which is at 3 Maynard St., Hanover, New Hampshire.
Training and Certification (Including Magnet Safety Information)
Papers and Posters published out of DBIC
What information would you like to see?
Contact Us
- James V.Haxby, Director (james.v.haxby@dartmouth.edu)
- Terry Sackett, MRI Research Technologist (Terry.J.Sackett@dartmouth.edu)
- Courtney Rogers, Dartmouth Brain Imaging Center Administrator (dbic@dartmouth.edu)
- James E. "Jed" Dobson, For questions relating to data, analysis, and computational systems (james.e.dobson@dartmouth.edu)
Imaging Equipment
Our Magnet
A Brief Pictorial History of Our Magnet
- For tracking the occurrence of corrupted images thought to arise from the magnet hardware.
Software and Data Analysis
The Philips Console and Software
MR Analysis
- Local Mirror of MR Podcasts from the University of Michigan
- Analysis Programs
- Noise Detection
- The MR Inbox System
- Slice Timing Correction script for use with AFNI
- Visualizing Results
- Imaging Data Formats
- Functional Imaging Analysis
- Diffusion Tensor Imaging Analysis
- fMRI weekly QA results
- fMRI daily QA results
- Column artifact
- A free-to-join PBS-Math discussion board (mailing list) on the methods for the analysis of neuroimaing data (Archive is available for subscribers only)
Computing Resources
Computational Systems
- An overview of the DBIC Computing Infrastructure
- DBIC Website : How to configure your DBIC website.
- Requesting a DBIC Account : How to request an account and general system information.
- Computational Systems: A list of computer resources available for DBIC users.
- Data Control Workstation : The fast-track to data quality control.
Data Resources
- The MR Inbox System: How to access and convert your PAR/REC files from the scanner.
We are working on a guide to Using AFS. Please check back for frequent updates on configuring an AFS client and tips for using AFS more effectively. If you use Mac OS X, there are some tips and tricks Mac OS & AFS that you should know to make it work well for you.
Data Analysis Help and Communication
- PBS-Chat Mailing List (for discussion of interest to folks in PBS)
Miscellany
Latest Issues of Related Journals
Cognitive Neuroscience and Related Conferences
AFNI Workshop -- March 17-19 2009
Useful Wikis of Other Labs
Using the DBIC Wiki
This wiki is designed as a source of information and knowledge about MR imaging. Above you will find various links concerning DBIC training and use, magnet information, analysis tips, and other information. In the spirit of wikis, if you find any misinformation or think that there is missing information, feel free to email us to register and edit the wiki. Or, if you would rather have changes made by someone else, please email me, James E. Dobson, at james.e.dobson [AT] dartmouth [EDU].
