Guest seminar by Dr Kathy Low, on Optical Imaging of the Brain. HMRI, Thur 31/8, 2pm

A Little Light Goes A Long Way: Diffuse Optical Imaging of Brain and Blood Vessels

Guest Seminar by Dr Kathy Low

Thur, Aug 31, 2pm
HMRI, Caves theater 

Kathy Low is a Senior Research Scientist at the University of Illinois, working in collaboration with Professors Monica Fabiani and Gabriele Gratton (http://cnl.beckman.illinois.edu/). She received her Ph.D. from the University of Missouri in 1997. Dr. Low’s research is focused on the cognitive neuroscience of executive function, incorporating a range of imaging measures, including event-related brain potentials (ERPs), structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (sMRI, fMRI, DTI, ASL) and diffuse optical imaging (DOI). She has worked extensively on the development of optical brain imaging methods, with an emphasis on the event-related optical signal (EROS) and pulse-DOT (Diffuse Optical Tomography).

Her talk will briefly highlight how EROS can be used to track the time course of neuronal activity in localized brain areas. For optimal neuronal activity, however, a steady supply of oxygenated blood is needed. Therefore, the remainder of the talk will focus on recent work using the optical pulse signal to assess the state of the cerebral arteries. These pulse measures may prove to be clinically useful in assessing arterial health, especially in at-risk populations such as premature infants or in individuals with cardiovascular disease.