Neuroimaging Methods and Applications – (M.Sc.)

Understanding the human brain in health and disease is one of the key research challenges of our time. Meeting this challenge depends on progress at multiple-levels, from investigations of single neurons through to studies of human cognition and perception. Bridging the gap between these levels is not easy, but recent advances in non-invasive neuroimaging and neurophysiology techniques seem to offer such a bridge, by providing a window on brain structure and function at the regional level. However, no single technique offers a complete picture – each has its own strengths and weaknesses. It is for this reason that much recent effort has been in multi-modal integration of several different imaging approaches.

ThisMSc programme, offered for the first time in October 2012, aims to address these needs by equipping graduate students from a wide range of backgrounds, including psychology, engineering, physical and biological sciences with the methodological tools to undertake neuroimaging research at the highest level.

Students are taught by international experts in both multimodal methods (Semester 1) and applications of these methods in several domains (Semester 2). Depending on their background and interests, students may then choose to specialise in either methodology or applications-based research for their project in Semester 3.

The course will place students in a competitive position for PhD studentships or research positions in neuroimaging methodology, cognitive neuroscience or translational neuroscience applied to human health and disease.

The hub of the MSc is the Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), which is part of the School of Psychology at Cardiff University. CUBRIC is one of only a handful of research-dedicated centres that contain multiple neuroimaging techniques in one building: Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Magnetoencephalography (MEG), Electroencephalography (EEG) and Trans-cranial Stimulation (TMS/TDCS). A key feature of this course is that students will gain hands-on experience using all of these techniques.