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Quebec's first high-density magnetoencephalography laboratory peers into the mysteries of human brain function
April 28, 2006 – Neuropsychology and cognition researchers at the Université de Montréal have a new state of the art research instrument at their disposal: a high-density whole-head magnetoencephalography (MEG) system. The first such brain imaging laboratory in Quebec and the most powerful device of this type in Canada, it was acquired by the Centre de recherche en neuropsychologie et cognition (CERNEC) at the Université de Montréal through a $6.2 million grant from the Canada Foundation for Innovation and the Government of Québec. Researchers will use the new device to continue to probe the mechanisms that lie behind the workings of the human brain.
“How the brain works is mysterious in many ways,” notes CERNEC director Franco Lepore. “The research conducted at our Centre is designed to improve our understanding of brain mechanisms, primarily in the area of perception and attention. This ultra-sophisticated machine will let us see how the brain processes the information it receives and, we hope, penetrate a few of the brain’s mysteries.”
With MEG, researchers can visualize to a high level of precision – on the order of two millimetres in space and one millisecond in time – the magnetic fields created by inter-neuronal currents in the brain. This is a non-invasive and inoffensive way of “reading” brain activity. Unlike the other techniques currently used, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET), MEG, which is risk-free for the subject, can read brain activity nearly instantly without distortion.
“The spatial and temporal resolution of MEG presents previously unknown possibilities for research,” says professor Pierre Jolicoeur, Director of the MEG laboratory. “For example, neuronal activity that underlies visual, auditory, and somatic-sensorial perception can now be located in the brain and tracked, millisecond-by-millisecond. In combination with experimental and cognitive psychology techniques, the MEG lab advances our understanding of the neuronal mechanisms behind memory, language, attention, pain, and emotions. “
With 275 sensing channels, the machine now in operation in Montreal is more powerful than any of the three similar devices used elsewhere in Canada (which have 151 sensing channels). The Université de Montréal’s MEG system and the three other devices used in Canada were all manufactured by VSM MedTech Ltd. of Vancouver.
The measurement instrument in the MEG laboratory, the whole-head magnetoencephalography system, consists of a set of 275 gradiometres arrayed around the participant’s head inside a fibreglass helmet. The gradiometres sense variations in the intensity of magnetic fields emanating from the electrical activity of the brain. Each gradiometre is connected to a SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device). The SQUIDs measure extremely low-intensity magnetic fields. These electronic components of the MEG are immersed in liquid helium, which keeps them at the extremely low temperature needed to ensure a state of superconduction (necessary to achieve extremely high levels of sensitivity). The instrument resides in a metallic room that shields the instrument from magnetic fields emanating from sources outside the brain. The laboratory, which is equipped to stimulate the visual, auditory, and somatic-sensorial systems, can also simultaneously record high-density electroencephalographic (EEG) signals.
“Today, we are celebrating a substantial boost to the research capabilities of the Université de Montréal,” said Dr. Eliot Phillipson, President and CEO of the CFI. “With access to this world-class facility, researchers and students of the CERNEC now have the cutting-edge tools they need to make substantial advancements in the field of neuropsychological research.”
About CERNEC
The Centre de recherche en neuropsychologie et cognition (CERNEC) at the Université de Montréal is among the country’s leading research centres in this field. Thirty-two researchers and 145 graduate students work at CERNEC, which is attached to the Department of Psychology in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences.
Research and training activities are organized around three central themes: human emotion and communications; memory, attention, and vigilance; and perception and sensorial systems. The CERNEC maintains partnership agreements with many other centres in Montreal and in other countries. The Centre’s scientific achievements, productivity and range of expertise has made it a top reference centre in the spheres of neuropsychology and cognition. Several researchers in the CERNEC who work in hospitals (CHUM, IUGM, MNI, Rivière-des-Prairies, Sacré-Cœur, Sainte-Justine) will use the MEG laboratory to pinpoint certain cerebral pathologies, such as epilepsy and study normal and abnormal aging of the brain.
About the CFI
The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) is an independent corporation created by the Government of Canada to fund research infrastructure. The CFI’s mandate is to strengthen the capacity of Canadian universities, colleges, research hospitals, and non-profit research institutions to carry out world-class research and technology development that benefits Canadians.
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