Georgia State University receives grant for brain research

The National Science Foundation’s Centers of Research Excellence in Science and Technology (CREST) program has awarded Georgia State University a five-year, $5 million grant. The Atlanta-based university will use the funds to establish the Center for Dynamic Multiscale and Multimodal Brain Mapping Over the Lifespan (D-MAP) that will focus on brain development, structure and connectivity from childhood to late life. D-MAP is one of only five CREST centers funded across the nation this year.

The investment recognizes the university’s strength in brain research and its minority-serving capabilities. The new center will engage K-12 students from diverse backgrounds with short courses and research internships while providing research opportunities for undergraduate students at Georgia State, Morehouse College and Spelman College. Students will gain the skills needed for the future science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) workforce from faculty members in 10 Georgia State departments.

Three projects are slated for the D-MAP Center:

• Developing methods to improve understanding of how the brain’s structure and connectivity patterns change over time.
• Using novel techniques to analyze different types of brain imaging data to identify brain patterns related to cognition and mood – and how these change over a lifetime.
• Analyzing existing neuroimaging data to develop predictions about developing and aging brains. Findings will lead to predictions related to memory and linguistic processing.

Along with Georgia State, Augusta University and University of Georgia are involved in a variety of brain research projects. Among these are the use of stem cells to help restore functions in the brains of stroke victims. Learn more about how Georgia scientists are promoting healing in the brain and joints through cell therapy, in this month’s feature, “Helping the Body Repair Itself.”

Photo provided by Georgia State University

Do you follow us? Find us on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.