We apply best practices of functional neuroimaging methods (receptor binding PET and multimodal Magnetic Resonance including BOLD fMRI, ASL, diffusion imaging, and structural imaging) to the investigation of pain perception and modulation of pain perception by placebo and acupuncture. We have begun to clarify the neural mechanisms contributing to the unconscious modulation of pain perception in healthy subjects and in patients suffering from chronic pain disorders.
CorticoMetrics LLC has been awarded a Phase I STTR grant by the NIH. The aim of the grant is to develop and evaluate software used for the detection of focal cortical dysplasias, a source of epileptic seizures.
The Martinos Center's Dylan Tisdall has received an NIH K99 award. The award is designed to help young investigators transition from the mentored to the independent phase of their career.
OBJECTIVE: As ~40% of persons with HIV also suffer neurocognitive decline, we sought to assess metabolic dysfunction in the brains of simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV)-infected rhesus macaques, an advanced animal model, in structures involved in cognitive function. We test the hypothesis that SIV-infection produces proton-magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (H-MRSI)-observed decline in the neuronal marker, N-acetylaspartate (NAA), and elevations in the glial marker, myo-inositol (mI), and associated creatine (Cr) and choline (Cho) in these structures.
Deqi response, a psychophysical response characterized by a spectrum of different needling sensations, is essential for Chinese acupuncture clinical efficacy. Previous neuroimaging research works have investigated the neural correlates of an overall deqi response by summating the scores of different needling sensations. However, the roles of individual sensations in brain activity and how they interact with each other remain to be clarified.
Sleep is beneficial for various types of learning and memory, including a finger-tapping motor-sequence task. However, methodological issues hinder clarification of the crucial cortical regions for sleep-dependent consolidation in motor-sequence learning.
Chemical exchange saturation transfer (CEST) is a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast mechanism that can detect dilute CEST agents and microenvironmental properties, with a host of promising applications. Experimental measurement of the CEST effect is complex, and depends on not only CEST agent concentration and exchange rate, but also experimental parameters such as RF irradiation amplitude and scheme.
OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between neurovascular coupling and cognitive function in elderly individuals with vascular risk factors and to determine whether neurovascular coupling could be modified by cocoa consumption.
Perhaps more than any other "-omics" endeavor, the accuracy and level of detail obtained from mapping the major connection pathways in the living human brain with diffusion MRI depend on the capabilities of the imaging technology used. The current tools are remarkable; allowing the formation of an "image" of the water diffusion probability distribution in regions of complex crossing fibers at each of half a million voxels in the brain.
