UCSB Brain Imaging Center

The UCSB Brain Imaging Center is located in a 3000 sq. ft. suite in the basement of the new addition to the UCSB Psychology Building. The Director is Dr. Scott Grafton. The center contains a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system with a large-bore 3-tesla (3T) magnet and associated echo-planar functional imaging hardware and software. The main activity of the center is functional brain imaging, which is used for basic research in cognitive/mind neuroscience.

Functional MRI (fMRI) is a non-invasive technique for measuring metabolic changes in the brain. Most applications measure the brain’s blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) response to task-related events. Although the precise relationship between the BOLD signal and neural activity is a topic of intense current research, it is thought that increases in neural activation induce localized increases in oxygen consumption, and therefore a higher BOLD signal. UCSB faculty, post docs, and graduate students are using this technology to study the neural basis of attention, memory, category learning, motor control, and laterality of brain function (among many other topics).

Many resources on campus facilitate research in the UCSB Brain Imaging Center. These include graduate courses on functional neuroimaging, shared computer labs, the Sage Center for the Study of the Mind, and the Neuroscience Research Institute.

If you are interested in using the facility for research, please see the information on our MRI Users page first. Please contact us if you have any questions.