The Cal Poly Neuroscience Club took a field trip today down the road to UCSB to tour the Brain Imaging Lab. Our intrepid students met on campus this morning at 7:45 a.m. (a brutal hour, so these are true Brainiacs) to meet our carpools, and then we were off!
Scott Grafton, Phil Beach, and their staff gave us tons of information on how the equipment operates. We saw some beautiful examples of some of the diffusion tensor imaging they had done. Best of all, I had a chance to have my brain imaged–a first for me. I did a little finger movement–tapping the fingers of my right hand onto my thumb one at a time–and my brain lit up in all the appropriate places. I guess it’s reassuring to know that your brain is doing what it’s supposed to do. Several students suggested that my brain should be used in next quarter’s Neuro ID test–we’ll see 🙂
Nice to know that my brain looks pretty normal....
The procedure was pretty much what I expected, but I was surprised at how well the earplugs and headphones attenuated the noise. Phil said the noise in the scanner is about 100 dB, which is pretty loud, although short of being in the front rows of a typical rock concert. It didn’t seem loud to me at all. I was also not at all bothered by the feeling of being enclosed in the scanner. It was actually hard to stay awake.
Phil kindly sent me home with a CD, on which they’d burned 160 images of my brain in sagittal sections. Siemens, the maker of UCSB’s scanner, also provides a nice little standalone viewer that lets you view the images on your PC.
After our tour, the students insisted that the only place possible for eating lunch was called Freebirds, which was a new one for me. Mr. F and I each had an enormous burrito for lunch–sorry Jenny Craig! On the way, the UCSB skateboard lanes were much admired–maybe Cal Poly will follow suit?
That's a pretty big burrito, and it's not the Monster either.
All in all, it was a really fun trip! Many thanks to the UCSB Brain Imaging Lab staff and Skirmantas Janusonis for making this possible for our students.
(Here are a few MORE PICTURES )
8 Comments
NikkiNoroian · November 14, 2009 at 5:41 pm
How exciting! I really think you need to use your brain in the Neuro ID test or at least include it in your power points next quarter. This really makes me want to have images taken of my brain–I’m so curious to see what it looks like, haha. Does UCSB use their Brain Imaging Lab exclusively for research purposes or is it used as a diagnostic tool as well?
Laura Freberg · November 14, 2009 at 6:43 pm
Nikki, the UCSB lab is for research only, and they make it clear that their processing is not diagnostic. Nonetheless, they said that about once per year, they need to contact a participant and make sure he/she is referred for medical follow-up.
They do pay $20 per hour for participants, so if you are interested, you can go to the lab website (follow the link in my post) and email Phil Beach. It’s really an interesting experience!
Stephmena · November 16, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Thats soo cool that you got to go to the UCSB labs. It’s cool that you got your head scanned and I have to say the experience is quite interesting. I had my hed scanned when I was in high school. That machine is seriously loud and the funny thing is I almost fell asleep through it. Those ear phones are really loud proof but some noise still came through. I think thst next you should try the EEG. Now that is an interesting experience. When I had to get An EEG I was only allowed like four hours of sleep then took the EEG. I think I dozed off at some point but who wouldn’t. I think the brain is intriguing.
aseastrunk · November 16, 2009 at 8:15 pm
Your brain is awesome! ha ha. It sounds like you had a great time. I have never had my brain scanned, but I do think that the tunnel thing looks quite cozy. My dad underwent a pet scan once, which seemed like a miserable experience. The liquid he had to drink looked quite disgusting.
The brain imaging technology that exists today is really quite remarkable. I am amazed at the advances I have seen in my life-time. It seems as though people are always coming up with something new.
tonysilvestri · November 16, 2009 at 10:26 pm
Dr. Freberg,
I overheard you saying that you get payed 20 dollars to do this. I actually have a close family friend who lives in Southern California that I think would want to do this… Both of her parents have had brain tumors in the past, and she’s often worried that she will develop something similar when she is older. You made it very clear that this type of procedure is not for diagnosis, but can you think of any reasons why she shouldn’t go do it, as a way just to see if something pops up? She is very healthy so has no reason to spend thousands of dollars to get a scan otherwise, and if I were her, I would want to do it just out of curiousity… What do you think?
aterpenny · November 20, 2009 at 3:28 pm
I am so extremely jealous. I would love to have my brain scanned. I desperately want to contact Phil Beach so that I may be a participant. I just need to find a convenient time to take a mini trip down to SB. It sounds like you guys had a blast, especially you, Professor Freberg. =] I think using your brain on the Neuro ID test next time you teach the class is an incredible idea. Seeing your brain on the power point in class was quite intriguing. It made everything that we had learned about the brain seem more real to me because I was finally able to see what a brain looks like, not just what hand-rendered pictures attempt to portray.
vdowell · November 22, 2009 at 6:36 pm
That’s so cool that you actually got to see what your brain looks like. I’m definitely a little curious about mine… but that little tunnel looking space seems too small. I’ve never had issues with claustrophobia before…but I don’t want to push my luck lol. Also, do you know how much it costs them to run the machine for one brain scan? I’m just a little curious, I feel like it would be A LOT.
Roger’s View of the World, Love and Seafood Gumbo! » scan me baby! · November 14, 2009 at 6:10 pm
[…] Laura had the opportunity to take some students down to the MRI Lab at UCSB and had herself scanned! […]
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