Projects
The BIRN currently consists of three "test bed" projects that are conducting structural and functional studies of neurological disease. These projects and the overall information technology (IT) infrastructure of the BIRN are supported by the BIRN Coordinating Center.
Function BIRN
Function BIRN studies regional brain dysfunctions related to the progression and treatment of schizophrenia. The effort brings together researchers in different aspects of functional neuroimaging to apply recently developed multi-modal and interdisciplinary techniques to investigate the neural substrates of schizophrenia.
The Function BIRN project is creating a nation-wide database that will advance the use of biomedical imaging for diagnoses and treatment of neuropsychiatric illness. More
Morphometry BIRN
Morphometry BIRN examines unipolar depression, mild Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment.
Through large-scale analyses of patient population data acquired and pooled across sites, these scientists are investigating whether brain structural differences correlate to symptoms such as memory dysfunction or depression and whether specific structural differences distinguish diagnostic categories. More
Mouse BIRN
Mouse BIRN studies animal models of multiple sclerosis, schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, ADHD, Tourette's disorder, brain cancer.
Correlated multi-scale analyses of data from the Mouse BIRN projects promise to provide a comprehensive basis upon which to interpret signals from the whole brain relative to the tissue and cellular alterations characteristic of the modeled disorder. More
