Our mission is to establish a financially sustainable research center that stands at the forefront of mental health research by leveraging advanced interdisciplinary neuroscience and neural engineering technologies, such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), ultrasound imaging, electrophysiology, optogenetics, and chemogenetics at Penn State University. The center also aims to facilitate the translation from preclinical research to clinical research in mental health.
Center for Neurotechnology in Mental Health Research
Driving mental health research with neural technology
News
Brain regions that relieve effects of chronic stress in mice differ based on sex
In two new studies, researchers made mice resilient to stress by activating neurons in different brain regions and found that the changes involved are highly sex-specific
Brain mechanisms underpinning loss of consciousness identified
Rapid activity in three brain regions appears to trigger loss of consciousness, researchers at Penn State find.
Three Penn State researchers awarded scientific grants from Kaufman Foundation
The Charles E. Kaufman Foundation — a supporting organization of The Pittsburgh Foundation, which works to improve the quality of life in the Pittsburgh region — has selected three Penn State researchers to receive scientific research grants. The foundation awards grants to scientists at institutes of higher learning in Pennsylvania who are conducting innovative, fundamental scientific research in the fields of biology, chemistry and physics.
News
Brain regions that relieve effects of chronic stress in mice differ based on sex
In two new studies, researchers made mice resilient to stress by activating neurons in different brain regions and found that the changes involved are highly sex-specific
Brain mechanisms underpinning loss of consciousness identified
Rapid activity in three brain regions appears to trigger loss of consciousness, researchers at Penn State find.
Three Penn State researchers awarded scientific grants from Kaufman Foundation
The Charles E. Kaufman Foundation — a supporting organization of The Pittsburgh Foundation, which works to improve the quality of life in the Pittsburgh region — has selected three Penn State researchers to receive scientific research grants. The foundation awards grants to scientists at institutes of higher learning in Pennsylvania who are conducting innovative, fundamental scientific research in the fields of biology, chemistry and physics.
Uncharted territory: A Q&A with Nanyin Zhang on mapping brain activity
To understand how different regions of the brain work together, researchers use a method called resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI). The method measures brain activity by observing changes in blood flow to different parts of the brain; however, rsfMRI does not explain how these blood flow changes to different brain regions relate to what is happening with the brain’s neurons — cells that send and receive messages in the form of electronic signals.