In recent years, technological advances in medical imaging and computer processing have allowed scientists to better observe the mysterious functioning of the 3-pound neuron blob known as the human brain.

The Utah Science Technology and Research initiative (USTAR) has hired two of the nation's top brain imagers to use state-of-the-art magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, to study the movement of blood and chemicals in the brain to learn how to better diagnose and treat a host of disorders, such as bipolar disorder, chemical dependency and autism.

The goal is to diagnose such conditions earlier or identify those predisposed to the diseases. This way teens can be treated before they become mentally ill, and psychiatrists can tailor pharmaceutical interventions to individual patients.

"We want to reduce the trial and error that goes into meds," says Deborah Yurgelun-Todd, "and then follow what meds do to build insights into how the brain responds."

The University of Utah recruited a pair of scientists from Harvard Medical School, where Yurgelun-Todd ran the Cognitive Neuroimaging Laboratory and her husband, Perry Renshaw, ran a brain imaging center at McLean Hospital. They start July 1. A third new faculty member is computer scientist Guido Gerig, recruited from the University of North Carolina to develop software to process massive amounts of MRI data into telling images of the brain. One of his goals is to map brain development in infants and toddlers to better understand autism.

Renshaw, a biophysicist, will direct the U.'s brain imaging program. With USTAR money, the U. has acquired a $3 million Siemens 3-tesla MRI, the most sensitive such machine for use on humans.

Yurgelun-Todd is eager to work in Utah, a state known for its large families. She hopes to compare brain function of mentally ill and healthy members of the same family and Utah will ensure an adequate supply of suitable research subjects. The state's large families already have been tapped to produce the famed Utah Population Database, which has enabled researchers to isolate disease-causing genes.

"In order to identify risk factors you need multiple individuals who have the illness and are healthy in the same family," Yurgelun-Todd says. "We will be able to look at family-member contributions to risk."

Renshaw's focus of study requires technology known as magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

His team will seek ways to free addicts from methamphetamine by learning how the drug affects brain chemistry.

"Instead of blood activity, it tracks chemicals and opens window on brain chemical changes," he said. "The biochemistry is well understood so we can identify novel treatment strategies for these disorders."