Notre Dame launches Human Neuroimaging Center to advance interdisciplinary neuroscience and insight into the human mind

The original article was written and published by the College of Arts and Letters.

With a significant new investment, the University of Notre Dame’s College of Arts & Letters is launching the Human Neuroimaging Center to drive innovation in interdisciplinary neuroscience and uncover how brain networks shape the remarkable capacities of the human mind.

The center’s work explores enduring questions in the psychological and brain sciences, including how the biological foundations of the mind enable learning, resilience, and flourishing—capacities central to the fullness of human life.

Led by Aron Barbey, the Andrew J. McKenna Family Professor of Psychology, who joined the Notre Dame faculty last fall, the center advances an integrated vision of modern neuroscience grounded in scientific rigor, humanistic insight, and ethical responsibility.

Understanding the human mind

“Neuroscience opens new ways of understanding the human mind and the lives it shapes,” Barbey said. “Advances in brain imaging now allow us to see the brain with remarkable precision, revealing the constellation of networks that underlie perception, memory, language, and thought. Once uncovered, insights from neuroscience move beyond the laboratory, shaping how learning is defined, how mental illness is understood, and how responsibility and care are imagined.”

Barbey and his research team will utilize advanced neuroimaging techniques—including high-resolution functional and structural MRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and computational modeling—to investigate the foundations of human intelligence.

He joined Notre Dame’s Department of Psychology after faculty appointments at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. At Illinois, he held multiple leadership roles at the Beckman Institute, including director of the Center for Brain Plasticity. He later served as the Mildred Francis Thompson Professor and director of the Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior at Nebraska.

His previous research—supported by more than $30 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health, the National Science Foundation, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, and several other organizations—has explored how intelligence emerges from the network organization and dynamics of the human connectome, applying methods from cognitive neuroscience, experimental psychology, and computer science.

Ultimately, his work aims to deepen understanding of the neural foundations of intelligence and to advance innovations in cognitive enhancement, neurorehabilitation, and biologically inspired artificial intelligence. Barbey’s research investigates how the brain’s finite architecture gives rise to the flexibility of human intelligence—our capacity to learn, adapt, and solve the diverse problems we face in life.

Scholarship and the science of intelligence

The Human Neuroimaging Center, co-located with the Veldman Family Psychology Clinic at 501 N. Hill Street in South Bend, will support a growing group of Notre Dame human neuroscience faculty, including three junior faculty who will arrive this fall, with more new hires planned for the coming years.

Barbey, his team, and other neuroscientists will use a state-of-the-art Siemens Magnetom Cima.X 3 Tesla whole-body MRI system to produce structural, functional, and metabolic brain imaging, enabling characterization of the human connectome with remarkable precision.

“Neuroscience offers a profound new lens through which we can view the human experience—one that enriches our existing strengths in the humanities, arts, and social sciences, offering new ways of developing deep insights about how we think, feel, and interact,” said Kenneth Scheve, the I.A. O’Shaughnessy Dean of the College of Arts & Letters. “At the same time, this center will help us build meaningful scientific collaborations across campus in a way that establishes Notre Dame as a leader in the holistic study of the human mind.”

Research themes

The center is organized around seven research themes that investigate how brain networks support the capacities that shape human life—and how this knowledge can be used with care and responsibility:

• Neuroscience of human intelligence — How do differences in the organization and dynamics of the human connectome shape memory, attention, reasoning and problem solving?
• Neuroscience of lifespan development — How does connectivity evolve from childhood through adulthood, and how do experiences—including education and embodied practices such as handwriting—influence developmental trajectories?
• Neuroscience of belief systems — How do executive, social, and affective brain networks support belief systems and moral decision making, including participation in social, ethical, and religious practices?
• Neuroscience of mental health — How do changes in brain network function contribute to mental health and neurodevelopmental conditions, and how can insights into these changes advance diagnosis and new approaches to treatment?
• Neuroscience of traumatic brain injury (TBI) — How does a TBI disrupt and reorganize the network architecture of the human connectome, and how can neuroimaging guide better diagnosis and treatment protocols in student-athlete and military populations?
• Neuroscience of human performance in military service — How do multiple dimensions of performance—across cognitive, physical, and neurobiological measures—change over the course of military service, and how can long-term measurement help strengthen readiness while supporting the health and resilience of service members?
• Neuroscience of brain health promotion — How can modern scientific interventions—including cognitive training, non-invasive brain stimulation, mindfulness meditation, physical activity, and nutrition—shape brain connectivity to promote brain health and resilience across the lifespan?

“The mission of our neuroimaging center is to advance neuroscience through rigorous research that is attentive to the broader human questions that inspire it,” Barbey said, “seeking not only to understand the complex and dynamic networks of the human brain, but also to ensure this knowledge benefits the individuals and the communities that we serve.”

Through these themes, Barbey sees ways for neuroscience to engage directly with broader questions of human development, belief, health, performance, and responsibility—ensuring that scientific advances are interpreted in light of history, culture, and enduring questions of human meaning.

“At Notre Dame, I believe we have a remarkable opportunity to lead in neuroscience because of the breadth of expertise on our campus—not only in psychology, and increasingly in neuroscience, but also in the humanities and social sciences,” he said. “The brain is more than a biological system; it underlies how we think, learn, and relate to one another. Its activity is shaped by biology and experience—including culture, history, family, and community. For that reason, neuroscience matters not only for what it reveals about the brain, but for how its insights enrich learning, promote health, and enable flourishing—in service of human dignity and the good we share.”

Read the full article from the College of Arts and Letters ›

Research at Notre Dame has far-reaching impacts, shaping students’ educational experiences, benefiting scientific inquiry around the world, and improving resources for people in the local community. Your generous giving ensures that research at Notre Dame helps people flourish.