The University of Miami announced Thursday it has been awarded $14.8 million in stimulus money to help it build a neuroscience and health annex at its Coral Gables campus.

The latest techniques in brain imaging are expected to be used in the new 37,700-square-foot facility to be constructed as an addition to the James M. Cox Jr. Science Center within the College of Arts and Sciences.

The Neuroscience and Health Annex, funded through the National Institutes of Health, will create an interactive hub for interdisciplinary research based on neurological imaging and health research.

The new building will include a human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) laboratory, where scientists, clinicians and engineers can work together on fundamental aspects of brain function, changing the way scientists diagnose and treat myriad neurological diseases.

One of the challenges to understanding human emotions, cognition and neurological disorders is linking changes in brain cell function to changes in subjective experiences and observable behaviors, the university said.