"Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) was first used in medicine in the early 1970's, so although it's a relatively a new technique, it continues to be a fast developing science. MRI is unique in its methods of imaging as it uses a combination of powerful magnets and radio waves to create detailed pictures of the body. The scanner is shaped like a wide doughnut, and study subjects lie on a bed that moves inside the scanner when they are ready for their scan. Some scans may take up to one hour (depending on the type of imaging to be performed) but usually it takes less time. Most studies conducted within this Centre are of the brain, but sometimes other areas of the body are studied, including the spine, heart, and nerves in the arms and legs. The images on the right show coronal views of the brain. The images on the bottom row are zoomed in to show the right amygdalo-hippocampus complex as shown within the white outline.

MRI is very good at highlighting different parts of the brain and spinal cord. Pictures are built up as a series of "slices" that can be viewed from the front to the back, from the top to the bottom, or from one side of the body to the other, so that Doctors (radiologists) can view parts of the body in all three dimensions. During a functional MRI scan (commonly known as "fMRI"), images are built up showing how parts of the brain 'work harder' during specific tasks, e.g. looking at images, listening to music or tapping fingers in a specific way. The images on the left show the results from an fMRI scan where the subjects performed a finger-tapping task. The underlying brain structure in all three views (sagittal, coronal and transverse) are shown with the yellow "blobs" indicating where the brain is working to perform the task. Part of the Centre's purpose is to study how the scanner can be used to take even better images of the human body. To do this, staff work with test objects (sometimes known as 'phantoms'), which are special fluid-filled spheres and cylinders that simulate body parts and the flow of blood in arteries and veins. Using these, the Centre can develop new techniques for scanning and aim to improve existing ones."