Neurology

Language Imaging Laboratory Research

• "The Neurophysiology of Speech Perception" (R01 DC006287, Einat Liebenthal, PI).
  • This project uses fMRI, ERP, and MEG to study large-scale neural systems supporting the linguistic perception of speech. The focus is on mapping and functional characterization of cortex in the human superior temporal lobe that supports high-level auditory perception and categorization of vowel and consonant sounds.

• "Sensory-Motor Systems and Conceptual Processing in the Healthy and Impaired Brain" (R01 DC010783 Rutvik Desai, PI)
  • This project uses fMRI, MEG, and behavioral studies in patients with motor system impairments to investigate the contribution of motor networks in the brain to the comprehension of action concepts. A series of experiments test the hypothesis that action concepts are understood in part through an internal action simulation process that involves motor and somatosensory systems.

• "Presurgical Applications of Functional MRI in Epilepsy" (R01 NS035929, Jeffrey Binder, PI)
  • This award supports a multi-center study called "FMRI in Anterior Temporal Epilepsy Surgery (FATES)". The principal goal of the study is to determine the role of fMRI in evaluating patients undergoing temporal lobe surgery for medication-resistant epilepsy. Approximately 200 patients will be enrolled at 8 academic epilepsy centers throughout the US. The study aims to resolve longstanding issues surrounding the proper use of fMRI in presurgical mapping, factors that determine successful seizure control, and factors that affect language and memory function after surgery.

• "The Neurobiology of Auditory Language Perception" (R01 DC003681, Greg Hickok, PI)
  • This multi-center consortium award supports behavioral and MRI studies in patients with aphasia as a result of left hemisphere stroke. The aim of the work is to understand the relationships linking variations in the pattern of brain damage that occurs in stroke with the corresponding variation in linguistic deficits that characterizes aphasia. This knowledge should lead to more precise classification of aphasic syndromes as well as new biologically grounded methods of rehabilitation.

• "Mapping the Effects of the KIAA0319 Dyslexia Susceptibility Gene on the Neural Substrates of Reading" (MCW CTSI Award, Lisa Conant, PI)
  • This project investigates the effects of a gene associated with dyslexia on reading ability in a healthy cohort without dyslexia. The study will examine the hypothesis that variations in the KIAA0319 genotype are associated with subclinical individual variations in performance during reading and speech perception tasks.