A paper written by a Wayne State University School of Medicine researcher and his M.D./Ph.D. student has received the Editor's Choice Award from the Organization for Human Brain Mapping.

Bruce Berkowitz, Ph.D., professor and director of Small Animal MRI Facility in the Departments of Anatomy, Cell Biology and Ophthalmology, and David Bissig won the award for their article, "Manganese-enhanced MRI of layer-specific activity in the visual cortex from awake and free-moving rats."

The award, which will be presented at the organization's annual meeting, honors the best paper of the year in the journal NeuroImage. Through the generosity of the Departments of Anatomy and Cell Biology, and Ophthalmology, and the School of Medicine, Bissig will attend the June meeting in San Francisco to accept the award.

"Dr. Berkowitz and I are excited by this honor, which came as a complete surprise," Bissig said. Dr. Berkowitz serves as his mentor in the M.D./Ph.D. program.

The research outlined in their article describes "a new method for using magnetic resonance imaging to measure brain activity non-destructively and in greater detail than is currently possible," Dr. Berkowitz said. "With this technique, brain activity that occurred outside the magnet in awake and free-moving subjects is studied, and this provides a new area of research for brain studies."

While the research and methods are only in experimental studies, Dr. Berkowitz and Bissig said, the findings establish an important "test bed" for investigating disease models and new treatment options.

An international association, the Organization for Human Brain Mapping is dedicated to neuroimaging research. One of its primary goals is providing an educational forum for the exchange of up-to-the-minute and groundbreaking research.