“The research which is now starting to develop here is a good example of cooperation between various scientific fields. The linking of medical, biological or physical disciplines with fields from the opposite end of the scientific spectrum such as psychology, kinanthropology or musicology can significantly improve our understanding of the human mind,” stated MU rector Mikuláš Bek.
The two MAGNETOM Prisma scanners with magnetic fields of a strength of three Tesla have a unique combination of technical and software characteristics, and their parameters significantly vary from those used in hospitals. “We are talking of a cutting-edge scanner which provides new possibilities for depicting both anatomical detail and processes in the human body,” said Vratislav Švorčík from Siemens, which provided the instrument.
“With the new magnetic resonance scanners we will have more precise and detailed results of measurements and can carry out new types of measurement, which have not previously been possible to carry out in the Czech Republic,” revealed Ivan Rektor, coordinator of Brain and Mind Research.
Among the first pieces of research for which the devices will be used is an international study into Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases. Within a few years doctors will be able to follow selected patients and compare their disease symptoms, genetic test results and anatomical and functional images of their brains. “The knowledge obtained will in future help us in the timely diagnosis of diseases and will improve prognoses,” stated Rektor.
Scientists from CEITEC MU, in cooperation with St. Anne’s University Hospital in Brno, are also preparing a study into epilepsy. Together with experts from MU’s Sports Studies Faculty they will then follow to what extent regular movement influences the symptoms and development of early onset Alzheimer’s disease. “The study will involve patients with slightly impaired memory and healthy volunteers as a control group. They will undergo a half-year dance-movement programme at the Sports Studies Faculty and then with the aid of imaging methods we will follow the state of their brains and concentration and memory functioning. We anticipate that exercise can improve their quality of life and possibly even slow the progress of the disease,” added Rektor.
The new instruments are part of the Multimodal and Functional Imaging Laboratory core facility, in which many scientists have for several months also been using a special electroencephalograph (EEG).
