Welcome to the Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging. Our Center investigates high-level cognition such as language comprehension, problem-solving, visual thinking, and executive processes through the use of fMRI and related approaches. The general research goal is to develop a unified theory of cognition that is grounded in and accounts for brain activation in the cortex, at the level of large scale neural networks that perform cognitive computations. In other words, the goal is to explain how thought emerges from brain function. Our fMRI studies use state-of-the-art scanners to capture brain images during high-level cognitive processes and use computational modeling techniques (4CAPS) to explain the complex dynamic systems. The investigations also include several other approaches used in conjunction with fMRI studies, most notably, behavioral studies, eye fixation studies, and therapy studies of people with brain damage. The main applications are to the understanding and treatment of brain damage and to the enhancement of human performance in high-technology environments. The CCBI is located at Carnegie Mellon, but much of the work is collaborative between Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh. The CCBI generally uses the scanning facility at the new Brain Imaging Research Center, which has been jointly established by Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh. A new 3T scanner, a Siemens Allegra, was delivered during the summer of 2002 and began operation during the winter of 2003. This new Center complements the excellent existing 1.5 and 3T imaging facilities at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, making available a wider range of capabilities for CCBI projects. Click the menu to find out more about our research projects, people, software, and publications.