Announcements: March 6, 2008

Bruce R. Rosen, MD, PhD, to Speak on Bio-X Frontiers in Interdisciplinary Biosciences: March 13th at 4:15 PM in the Clark Center Auditorium. Bruce R. Rosen, MD, PhD, will deliver a seminar entitled "Frontiers in Multimodal Brain Imaging"; please see his abstract below. Dr. Rosen is the director of the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital and Professor of Radiology at Harvard Medical School.

Abstract:
The last decade has witnessed an explosion in the growth of our ability to study the workings of the brain. While the tools of molecular biology, neurochemistry, and electrophysiology continue to provide insights into neuronal events at the molecular, synaptic, and cellular levels, a new generation of non-invasive imaging tools has allowed us to extend this understanding from the cellular to the systems level, and from animal models to humans. One technology of particular note was the development of several means to image hemodynamic and metabolic events non-invasively using magnetic resonance. Coupled with advanced methods to quantify the morphological characteristics of cortical and subcortical structures, these "functional magnetic resonance imaging" (fMRI) studies have enabled investigators throughout the world to have an unprecedented view into the workings of the human brain and mind. Systems neuroscientists have applied these methods to map in detail the organization of human vision, hearing, smell, taste, touch, and motor control, and to directly address how our brains are both similar to and different from animal ancestors. Cognitive scientists have extended our understanding to higher order processing of functions like memory and attention, and they have begun detailed studies of distinctly human functions such as language. Scientists in fields as diverse as education and economics now use the tools of functional neuroimaging, and such studies have become powerful cultural icons in connecting the brain with behavior.

Though technological innovation was rapid during the last decade, it is certain to continue at an even more accelerated pace during the next. PET technology will continue to be the dominant means to obtain molecular imaging data, and will provide a direct neurochemical view into the synapse, with and without pharmacological interventions. MRI technology will also advance, and include ever-higher field strength magnets already approaching 12 Tesla. Such systems will allow us to study the building blocks of cortical organization, and permit us to directly map connections between functional regions. New technologies will also emerge, including direct tomographic imaging with light (Diffuse Optical Tomography--DOT) and novel means to combine MRI with electromagnetic recordings acquired with EEG and its magnetic cousin, MEG (magnetoencepholography). These technologies will extend our ability to capture views of brain function in "real time" in all patient populations, including small children, and they will ultimately allow us to test directly new computational and physical models of how the brain works, grows, and is perturbed in disease.

For more information, please contact Fiona Sincock.

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