A Brief Introduction to the
Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging (BCAN)

The Berlin Center for Advanced Neuroimaging (BCAN) is a joint institution of the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin and the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin. It is located in the heart of Berlin, on the Campus Mitte of the Charité, right next to the Campus Nord of the Humboldt Universität zu Berlin with the Berlin School of Mind and Brain, the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience and the Institute of Theoretical Biology. It is 300m from Berlin central station. It is a core resource for the Excellence Clusters Science of Intelligence (SCIOI) and NeuroCure, for the Berlin Institute of Health (BIH) as well as for the Collaborative Research Centers SFB 1315 (Mechanisms and Disturbances in Memory Consolidation), SFB TRR 295 (ReTune), SFB TRR 265 (Losing and Regaining Control over Drug Intake), the Research Training Group GRK 2386 (Extrospection), and the DFG Forschergruppe FOR 5187 Precision Psychotherapy. It is also used by several ERC grant and Emmy-Noether projects.

The BCAN is a research-dedicated neuroimaging facility. Its two state of the art Siemens 128-channel 3 Tesla MRI systems provide more than 5000 hours annually for more than 200 users and more than 30 research groups. The BCAN first began its operations in 2010. In 2020 the German Research Foundation and the Berlin Institute of Health made it possible to upgrade both MRI systems to the latest technological 3T standard. The systems are equipped for cognitive, neurological and psychiatric experiments. The center also has MR-compatible EEG and TMS systems plus additional experimental rooms for EEG, TMS and psychophysics. The scanners run side-by-side in the 3rd floor of an old Berlin lecture theatre building, the reconstruction of which was funded by a grant of the Konjunkturpaket of the German government. 

The BCAN has a dedicated team of technological and methodological specialists with the mission to provide cutting-edge technical support as well as advice in study design and advanced data analysis. For clinical studies the BCAN collaborates with the Clinical Departments of Radiology, Neuroradiology, Neurology,  Psychiatry and Neurosurgery at Charité Berlin.