Please join the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on June 20, 2016 at 12:30 pm Eastern Time, as we celebrate the success of the first phase of the Human Connectome Project (HCP). The meeting is open to you either in person (register here<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/connectome-celebration-tickets-5317340308>) or by videocast<https://www.eventbrite.com/e/connectome-celebration-tickets-5317340308>. As you probably know, in 2010, NIH awarded two HCP grants totaling $40 million to map the human brain's connections in high resolution. Understanding the connectivity patterns of the healthy human brain provides a critical baseline against which to measure atypical connectivity and provides information for improved diagnosis and treatment of brain disorders. The grants supported two research consortia, one led by investigators at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) /Harvard University and the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA); the other led by investigators at Washington University, St. Louis and the University of Minnesota. With funding from the HCP, the MGH/UCLA consortium built a custom 3T scanner (the "Connectom") with advanced gradient technology (300 mT/m) to explore ultra-high resolution neural connectivity. Novel data acquisition protocols, pulse sequences, fiber structure analytics, and interactive graphing have also been developed, yielding stunning images of fiber architecture and connectivity and providing evidence for an underlying grid structure of the human brain. In parallel, Washington University and the University of Minnesota mapped long-distance brain connections through cutting-edge neuroimaging of 1,200 healthy adults (twins and their non-twin siblings). Data were acquired on 3T and 7T scanners using multiple imaging modalities and also included magnetoencephalography, behavioral, and heritability measures. The project has provided data about brain connectivity, its relationship to behavior, and contributions of environmental and genetic factors to individual differences in brain circuitry. The June 20 meeting will highlight key findings from the first phase of the HCP project. The meeting will also include awardees of the second phases, which include awards that support longitudinal data collection from healthy subjects across the lifespan as well as awards that support data collection from those with different clinical diagnoses and diseases. We hope to see you there. If you have questions or would like additional information, please reach out to me at [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>.
Gregory K. Farber, Ph.D. Director, Office of Technology Development and Coordination National Institute of Mental Health National Institutes of Health 301-435-0778 _______________________________________________ HCP-Users mailing list [email protected] http://lists.humanconnectome.org/mailman/listinfo/hcp-users
