The Arlington Innovation Center: Health Research (AiC: Health Research), of Virginia Tech’s National Capital Region, has been awarded a $1.5 million cooperative research and development agreement from the US Army for neuroimaging studies of human performance. The agreement also includes an option for approximately $3 million of future work based on availability of funding.

"Sleep (or lack of sleep) affects our physical and neurological performance," said Seong K. Mun, PhD, professor of physics, research fellow, and director of the AiC: Health Research Center. "The central scientific effort of this project will be to improve our understanding of how the brainstem and thalamus regulate sleep in humans, and how these systems are affected by stress and sleep restriction."

A parallel goal for the project is to create a reference database and teaching files for the Army on advanced MRI methods such as diffusion tensor imaging and tractography.