At UT Southwestern's Advanced Imaging Research Center (AIRC), scientists are using the most powerful magnetic resonance imaging devices to peer inside living humans, from watching how the brain functions when a person thinks about eating a cookie, to tracing how their metabolism changes after they've eaten the treat. Seven decades ago, physicists discovered the underlying principles of nuclear magnetic resonance -- how molecules and atoms behave in a magnetic field. In one of the most important medical advances of the 20th century, the physics of that phenomenon were adapted to visualize noninvasively the internal structure of the human body and to diagnose disease. Craig Malloy, M.D., and Dean Sherry, Ph.D., are continuing that pioneering work at the AIRC. Since its opening in 2006, the facility has given researchers access to the most advanced tools in the field, including functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which allows the study of brain structure and function simultaneously, as well as one of the nation's most powerful imaging devices -- a 7-Tesla MRI machine. During their presentation, Dr. Sherry and Dr. Malloy will discuss the use of MRI to visualize metabolic processes.