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Recent advances in MR imaging enable the mapping of brain physiology and anatomy in animals without surgical intervention. As part of the new Biomedical Imaging facility at BUSM, we focus on measuring and improving the spatial accuracy of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and functional imaging methods (fMRI), and developing new MR methods useful for neurophysiology. (Collaborating investigators: Dae-Shik Kim, Itamar Ronen.)
In experimental preparations, we directly image neural activity using intrinsic signal and voltage-sensitive dye techniques. Most commonly, we use visual stimuli to elicit physiological maps of retinal position, orientation or ocular dominance, and these maps can be used to probe the functioning of cortical circuits under various experimental conditions.
TMS is a safe way to stimulate human brain tissue non-invasively, and has many potential clinical applications. We use imaging techniques (fMRI, intrinsic signal imaging, and 2DG imaging) to directly visualize neural activity resulting from TMS. The goal is to better understand how to design effective TMS-based clinical treatments. (Collaborating investigators: Antoni Valero-Cabre, Alvaro Pascual-Leone.)
Monkeys are excellent animals in which to study the basis of learned behaviors. We are interested in exploring the ways in which primate neurophysiology mirrors human neurophysiology, and in learning about how single cells code information during changing behavioral tasks.
Studies of the differences in neuronal physiology between species provide important clues to ask why cortex is organized the way it is. Unique species we are interested in include ferret, squirrel and marmoset.
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