Research into alcohol use disorder: Imagining future events changes brain to improve healthy decision-making

Wed, 19 Mar 2025 08:00:00 -0400

A new study by Virginia Tech scientists at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC found practicing episodic future thinking both reduced impulsivity and enhanced connectivity in key regions of the brain.

How your brain learns from rewards might hold the key to treating depression

Wed, 22 Jan 2025 11:06:00 -0500

In a new study, Fralin Biomedical Research Institute scientists Pearl Chiu and Brooks Casas investigate how brain signals involved in reward learning might help personalize depression treatment.

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute appoints interim directors for research centers focused on addiction recovery and health behaviors

Fri, 18 Oct 2024 09:24:00 -0400

A team of four researchers will continue to advance the extensive work underway at the Addiction Recovery Research Center and Center for Health Behaviors Research.

‘Stimulants are coming back’: Addiction scientists seek to better understand cocaine use disorder

Sun, 14 May 2023 00:01:00 -0400

Warren Bickel and Stephen LaConte at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute hope the study will inform demand and cravings for a substance involved in nearly one in five overdose deaths

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute expands Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program

Tue, 16 Aug 2022 09:43:00 -0400

More than 30 undergraduate and high school students worked behind the curtain of biomedical research this summer at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC.

NIH grant will fund graduate student’s study of human brain activity in alcohol use disorder

Fri, 15 Apr 2022 08:32:00 -0400

Jeremy Myslowski, a doctoral student working in the lab of Stephen LaConte at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, will use the award to study new ways to quantify severity of alcohol use disorder with neuroimaging and to test whether this disorder also impairs brain regulation.

Virginia Tech scientists find link between microorganisms and early brain development

Wed, 23 Feb 2022 15:55:00 -0500

The study, published in Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, indicates that bacteria, viruses, and fungi are critical to early brain development, and their absence has been speculated to be possibly related to disorders including autism, schizophrenia, depression, and ADHD.

Virginia Tech launches ‘next generation’ human brain imaging lab

Wed, 12 May 2021 14:00:00 -0400

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.

Virginia Tech launches ‘next generation’ human brain imaging lab

Researchers at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC have received a $2.4 million National Institutes of Health grant to deploy a breakthrough new brain imaging technique called optically pumped magnetometry to study the nuances of social interactions.

Meet our Scientists: Dr. Chiu, Dr. DeLuca, Dr. LaConte, Dr. Robel, and Dr. Stein

The Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC’s researchers have diverse backgrounds. Learn more about their research, hobbies, backgrounds, and why they became scientists in our 2021 weekly video series.

Scientists explore new method to help people with alcohol use disorder

Fri, 14 Feb 2020 10:26:00 -0500

New ways to help people resist the siren call of alcohol have not kept pace — which leaves health care providers stuck with the same intervention and rehabilitation options they have been using for decades. But now, Virginia Tech scientists are studying whether people battling alcohol use disorder might gain some relief by “pre-experiencing” the future.

FDA deems molecular test for concussions ‘breakthrough device’

Mon, 17 Jun 2019 11:02:00 -0400

BRAINBox Solutions, a molecular diagnostics innovator that works extensively with the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at VTC, announced it has been granted U.S. Food and Drug Administration Breakthrough Device Designation to speed development of a product that includes a blood-based test to aid in prognosis and diagnosis of mild traumatic brain injury.

Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors selects projects to tackle lifestyle-related diseases

Fri, 04 Jan 2019 09:46:00 -0500

Collaborative teams of Virginia Tech and Carilion Clinic investigators are exploring the consequences of destructive health behavior in people struggling with poor adherence to breast cancer treatment regimes, opioid dependence, and cardiovascular disease.

VTCRI researchers find positive effects of early education intervention four decades later

Tue, 20 Nov 2018 11:00:00 -0500

New research published in Nature Communications, led by Read Montague, of the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, suggests that participants who received educational interventions in early childhood show positive effects on social decision-making more than four decades later.

VTCRI hackathon to draw coders from Intel, Princeton, Yale

Mon, 24 Sep 2018 15:00:00 -0400

Researchers and software developers will be writing code to analyze the ultimate computer — the brain — at the BrainIAK Hackathon, a three-day event beginning Sept. 26 for people who would like to use, build, or improve software related to neuroscience and machine learning.

Fulbright fellowship awarded to VTCRI research assistant

Tue, 07 Aug 2018 00:00:00 -0400

Brennan Delattre will research the mental health benefits of cooperative movement in Niterói, Brazil.

VTCRI wins award to develop test for mild traumatic brain injury, working with industry partners, University of Virginia

Tue, 15 May 2018 20:50:00 -0400

The project has won the support of the Virginia Catalyst, which has awarded a $500,000 grant to the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute to further develop and commercialize a multi-modality system approach to aid in the diagnosis and management of mild traumatic brain injury, known as mTBI.

Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute partners with INSIGHTEC to research focused ultrasound technology

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 07:00:00 -0500

Through this collaboration, the institute became the company’s first nonclinical research site.

Early childhood education expert to cap Brain School, highlight Brain Awareness Week

Fri, 10 Mar 2017 00:00:00 -0500

Greg J. Duncan, a distinguished professor in the School of Education, and departments of economics, psychology, and social behavior at the University of California, Irvine, will highlight Brain Awareness Week, which begins March 13. The presentation will be the capstone course for the fifth annual Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute Brain School.

Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute to host Brain Awareness Week

Wed, 15 Feb 2017 00:00:00 -0500

Scientists will reveal more about what they have learned about the brain’s developmental journey when the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute opens its doors for its fifth annual Brain School during Brain Awareness Week from March 13-19.

Institute Scholars' research crosses the globe and disciplines

Tue, 07 Feb 2017 00:00:00 -0500

The Scholars Program from the Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment is designed to support faculty in strengthening the proposals for external funding, the collection of preliminary data, and other proposal development activities.

NIH’s alcohol addiction research programs leader will speak at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute

Tue, 17 Jan 2017 00:00:00 -0500

George Koob, the director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, will discuss the neurocircuitry of alcohol addiction at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute.

Covert operations: Your brain digitally remastered for clarity of thought

Mon, 30 Sep 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute scientists have found that neurofeedback can enhance the signal-to-noise ratio in thought, enabling a sharper focus on tasks - and a better understanding of brain-computer interfaces.

Smoking abstinence research receives major financial boost

Thu, 29 Aug 2013 00:00:00 -0400

Warren Bickel, an internationally recognized addiction expert at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute, recently received a $3.2-million grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse for research on improving self-control in smokers seeking to quit cigarettes.

Brain Awareness Week will highlight the wonders of nature's most remarkable machine

Fri, 01 Mar 2013 00:00:00 -0500

Imagine a portable supercomputer that requires only the wattage of a dim lightbulb to run and yet can decode ancient languages, invent fictional worlds, and distinguish friend from foe. The Virginia Tech community will be celebrating that supercomputer – the human brain – during Brain Awareness Week, which begins March 11.

Neuroscientists produce guide for using ultrasound to treat brain disorders in clinical emergencies

Wed, 14 Sep 2011 00:00:00 -0400

The discovery that low-intensity, pulsed ultrasound can be used to noninvasively stimulate intact brain circuits holds promise for engineering rapid-response medical devices.

Powerful scanners for brain research to be delivered at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute in Roanoke

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 00:00:00 -0500

A magnetic resonance imaging machine (MRI) being delivered on Nov. 17 to the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute

Tags

Research into alcohol use disorder: Imagining future events changes brain to improve healthy decision-making

How your brain learns from rewards might hold the key to treating depression

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute appoints interim directors for research centers focused on addiction recovery and health behaviors

‘Stimulants are coming back’: Addiction scientists seek to better understand cocaine use disorder

Fralin Biomedical Research Institute expands Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship program

NIH grant will fund graduate student’s study of human brain activity in alcohol use disorder

Virginia Tech scientists find link between microorganisms and early brain development

Virginia Tech launches ‘next generation’ human brain imaging lab

Virginia Tech launches ‘next generation’ human brain imaging lab

Meet our Scientists: Dr. Chiu, Dr. DeLuca, Dr. LaConte, Dr. Robel, and Dr. Stein

Scientists explore new method to help people with alcohol use disorder

FDA deems molecular test for concussions ‘breakthrough device’

Center for Transformative Research on Health Behaviors selects projects to tackle lifestyle-related diseases

VTCRI researchers find positive effects of early education intervention four decades later

VTCRI hackathon to draw coders from Intel, Princeton, Yale

Fulbright fellowship awarded to VTCRI research assistant

VTCRI wins award to develop test for mild traumatic brain injury, working with industry partners, University of Virginia

Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute partners with INSIGHTEC to research focused ultrasound technology

Early childhood education expert to cap Brain School, highlight Brain Awareness Week

Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute to host Brain Awareness Week

Institute Scholars' research crosses the globe and disciplines

NIH’s alcohol addiction research programs leader will speak at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute

Covert operations: Your brain digitally remastered for clarity of thought

Smoking abstinence research receives major financial boost

Brain Awareness Week will highlight the wonders of nature's most remarkable machine

Neuroscientists produce guide for using ultrasound to treat brain disorders in clinical emergencies

Powerful scanners for brain research to be delivered at Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute in Roanoke