Speaker: M. Elizabeth Meyerand, PhD
Chair and Professor,
Department of Biomedical Engineering;
Professor, Department of Medical Physics
University of Wisconsin-Madison
                 
Tuesday, February 28th
4:00 p.m.
Biotechnology Center Auditorium
425 Henry Mall

A MRI STUDY OF SUSTAINED NEUROMODULATION INDUCED BY ELECTRICAL
TONGUE STIMULATION IN BALANCE DISORDERS

Research Interests / Applied Neuro MRI Lab:

http://www.neurofmri.bme.wisc.edu/

Our research is in the field of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the
human brain. Our goal is the development of new MR methods to visualize the
structure and function of the brain and to translate these methods to the
hospital for clinical diagnosis.
 
One of the areas upon which we concentrate our research is functional MRI
(fMRI. FMRI allows us to visualize both the temporal and spatial patterns of
brain activity in response to different stimuli. We are particularly
interested in the development of new analysis methods to improve our
understanding of brain function.
 
In addition to analyzing brain activation, we are also developing techniques
to explore brain connectivity using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and the
concept of effective connectivity. As implemented in MRI, DTI is a
noninvasive imaging technique that can be used to probe the intrinsic
diffusion characteristics of tissue. Techniques for diffusion imaging are
evolving rapidly. Diffusion MRI research has been shown to have important
applications, especially in stroke, the effects of tumors, degenerative
diseases and brain injury.
 
Effective connectivity describes the integration within and between
functionally specialized areas of the brain. Regions of the brain are
located using fMRI. Integration of these regions is achieved through the
information gained from DTI. We explore the effective connectivity in a
variety of large-scale neurocognitive networks using structural equation
modeling.