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Human Magnetometry Laboratory

Human Magnetometry Laboratory

Human Magnetometry

Next-generation Human Neuroscience

The Human Magnetometry Laboratory, led by Read Montague, Ph.D., is pushing the frontier of next-generation human social neuroscience. The brand new lab combines the latest available technology in optically-pumped magnetometers and magnetically shielded rooms. These facilities will enable researchers at Virginia Tech to be the first in the world to study the brain activity underlying social interactions during face-to-face, upright exchanges. Using scalp-based sensors, the researchers are developing new techniques to define standards for movement-tolerant optically-pumped magnetometry and magnetoencephalography research. The scientists are also evaluating new sensor mounting strategies that enable face-to-face interactions without large equipment that covers part of the research participants' face - all at a reduced cost to improve experimental ease. 

  • Article Item
    Two researchers and a volunteer are inside the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute's new optically pumped magnetometry laboratory
    Virginia Tech launches ‘next generation’ human brain imaging lab , article

    Researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have received a $2.4 million grant from the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, part of the National Institutes of Health, to measure the brain’s subtle magnetic signals in two research volunteers simultaneously as they interact, capturing the rich complexity of the brain’s signaling during face-to-face social interactions in real-time.

    Date: 08/19/2021

Interested in joining a research study conducted at the Human Magnetometry Lab?