Research profile

Laboratory of Brain Imaging (LOBI) is a scientific and service-oriented facility in the Nencki Institute. LOBI provides access to state-of-the-art research support and technologies for internal and external scientists. The laboratory is equipped with a Siemens Magnetom PRISMA fit 3T magnetic resonance scanner with multichannel coils, as well as infrastructure enabling stimulus presentation, response recording and physiological measurements, and research using eye tracking, TMS, and neuronavigation.

Research at LOBI has made fundamental contributions to the understanding of the neural processes responsible for cross-modal neuroplasticity in healthy and deaf people, neuronal mechanisms of consciousness, processing of emotionally charged information in healthy and  subclinical  populations  as  well  as  analytic  approaches  for  multisite  MRI  data of developmental and neurological disorders, including multiple sclerosis..

Additionally, LOBI develops standardized databases of stimuli to facilitate highly controlled experimental research on emotion and cognition – Nencki Affective Picture System (1356 images) and Nencki Affective Word datasets (2902 Polish words). Stimuli in both datasets are characterized in terms of emotional valence, arousal, as well as basic emotion intensities. The NAPS and NAWL databases are freely accessible to the scientific community (http://exp.lobi.nencki.gov.pl/dnaps).

More information can be found on the web page: http://lobi.nencki.gov.pl/

Current research activities

• Brain plasticity in language acquisition. The aim of the project is to reveal a multimodal brain network for speech and print in a second language. Adopting a longitudinal design, we test learners of foreign languages, sign language and Braille reading. Besides distin- guishing which structures of the language-processing network are multimodal. 
• Neural correlates of procrastination. Using cognitive tasks in emotional contexts during fMRI experiments we try to get neuronal-level insight into  mechanisms of this self-regulatory failure.
• Influence of emotions of long-term and associative memory
• Emotions, bodily signals, and decision-making. Research focuses on how emotions and physiological signals from the body influence behavior and decision-making processes. Particular attention is given to communication between the brain and the body (interoception) and to the neural mechanisms involved in interpreting signals originating from within the body. The impact of disruptions in this communication, for example in chronic pain conditions, on everyday decisions and behavior is also examined. The studies employ methods from experimental psychology, physiological measurements, and brain neuroimaging techniques.
• Climate change–related emotions. We investigate how people experience emotions related to the climate crisis and examine individual differences in their intensity and nature. We also analyze the relationship between these emotions and psychological well-being as well as coping strategies for dealing with stress. Our research employs psychometric tools designed to measure different climate-related emotions. In addition, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) experiments, we examine the neural mechanisms underlying the experience of these emotions.https://climate-change-emotions.org/en/
• Visual system neuroplasticity after photoreceptor loss. The project investigates central and peripheral visual processing using a custom-designed visual acuity measurement “shape-from-motion” test, combined with magnetic resonance imaging: functional (fMRI) and white matter structure (diffusion tensor, DTI). The current cohort includes patients with juvenile photoreceptor loss, recruited and diagnosed at one of Poland’s leading ophthalmology centers — Samodzielny Publiczny Kliniczny Szpital Okulistyczny. We are now preparing to extend the study to include individuals with age-related photoreceptor degeneration, enabling a comprehensive analysis of visual system plasticity across the lifespan.

We conduct research studies only. We do not provide clinical diagnostic services or perform MRI scans based on medical referrals.

Selected publications

Matuszewski, J., Bola, Ł., Collignon, O., & Marchewka, A. (2025). Similar computational hierarchies for reading and speech in the occipital cortex of sighted and blind: Converging evidence from fMRI and chronometric TMS. Journal of Neuroscience, 45(20).

Marczak, M., Wierzba, M., Zaremba, D., Kulesza, M., Szczypiński, J., Michałowski, J. M., Klöckner, C. A., & Marchewka, A. (2023). Beyond climate anxiety: Development and validation of the Inventory of Climate Emotions (ICE): A measure of multiple emotions experienced in relation to climate change. Global Environmental Change, 83, 102764.

Jakuszyk, P., Szukało, P., Kossowski, B., & Juryńczyk, M. (2023). Anterograde and trans-synaptic neurodegeneration in aquaporin‑4‑antibody neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder patients with a history of transverse myelitis. Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders, 72, 104620.

Kaźmierowska, A. M., Kostecki, M., Szczepanik, M., Nikolaev, T., Hamed, A., Michałowski, J. M., Wypych, M., Marchewka, A., & Knapska, E. (2023). Rats respond to aversive emotional arousal of human handlers with the activation of the basolateral and central amygdala. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 120(46), e2302655120. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2302655120

Gola, M., Wordecha, M., Sescousse, G., Lew‑Starowicz, M., Kossowski, B., Wypych, M., Makeig, S., Potenza, M. N., & Marchewka, A. (2017). Can pornography be addictive? An fMRI study of men seeking treatment for problematic pornography use. Neuropsychopharmacology, 42(10), 2021–2031. https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2017.78

Bola, Ł., Zimmermann, M., Mostowski, P., Jednoróg, K., Marchewka, A., Rutkowski, P., & Szwed, M. (2017). Task-specific reorganization of the auditory cortex in deaf humans. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 114(4), E600–E609. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1609000114

Ninghetto M, Keliris GA, Szulborski K, Gałecki T, Kossowski B, Panneman D, Cremers FPM, Ołdak M, Szaflik JP, Burnat K. (2025) Cortical response to transient and long-term visual field loss. Cereb Cortex. 35(8):bhaf237. doi: 10.1093/cercor/bhaf237.

Ninghetto M, Kozak A, Gałecki T, Szulborski K, Szaflik JP, Ołdak M, Marchewka A, Burnat K. (2024). Good vision without peripheries: behavioral and fMRI evidence. Sci Rep. 4(1):26264. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-76879-9.

Kozak A, Ninghetto M, Wieteska M, Fiedorowicz M, Wełniak-Kamińska M, Kossowski B, Eysel UT, Arckens L, Burnat K. (2024). Visual training after central retinal loss limits structural white matter degradation: an MRI study. Behav Brain Funct. 20(1):13. doi: 10.1186/s12993-024-00239-w.

Burnat K, Hu TT, Kossut M, Eysel UT, Arckens L. (2017). Plasticity Beyond V1: Reinforcement of Motion Perception upon Binocular Central Retinal Lesions in Adulthood. J Neurosci. 37(37):8989-8999. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1231-17.2017.