Integrated Studies Applied Neuroscience Seminar

1
Integrated Studies Applied Neuroscience Seminar

• Evan Fletcher, Mario Ortega
• Dr. Charles DeCarli, IDeA Lab Director

2
Overview of Course

• OVERVIEW
• Introductory Lecture
• Lab Hours involving computer based image analysis
  (Mario, Evan)
• LECTURE
• Introductory Lecture (today) including
• Basics of Neuroanatomy, Software Overview of
  Laboratory
• MRI Imaging Basics
• Memory Decline with Aging
• LABORATORY
• Longitudinal Hippocampus Project
• Testing a possibility programs under development
• Trace a hippocampus at initial time and apply it
  to future scan using computer modeling and
  warping

3
Studies of Brain Form and Function

• Postmortem brains (not us!)
• Used for precise anatomical measurements
• Living subjects (computer analysis)
• Use MRI imaging to track form and function in
  living individuals

4
Basics of Brain Anatomy

• Next slides show postmortem images to illustrate
  large anatomical features
• Good for precise anatomical measurements
• Cannot study changes during life (obviously!).
  For that, need MRI

5
The Human Brain
Cerebrum -Divided into four regions, Frontal,
Parietal. Occipital, Temporal -Highly convoluted
surface with 6 layers of cells in the cortex.
6
Meninges -the brain has several layers of
protection, internal to the skull, these are the
meninges. -On an MRI image the different layers
are not discernable. -They provide protection,
drain the Cerebrospinal Fluid, and blood input
and output.
7
Four Cerebral Lobes(viewed from midline)
8
MRI Images

• Magnetic Resonance Imaging
• Intense magnetic and radio frequency fields
• Quantum mechanics
• Pinpoint small features in living brain
• Lauterbur and Mansfield Nobel Prize 2003

9
Sample MRI Images

• High resolution anatomical MRI
• 3D and 2D views
• Skull in place and stripped

10
(No Transcript)
11
These images were viewed using Slice Viewer a
program you will see in this lab. We will show
you images so you can learn the basic structures
and how to separate brain from meninges.
12
Anatomical Basics from MRI

• The next slides show brain features relevant to
  longitudinal studies of living individuals
• Longitudinal studies
• -Track changes in form and function for same
  individual over time

13
More Anatomical Basics
14
Young and Old

• These images show comparable slices of young and
  old brain images.
• Compare features for changes
• Ventricles
• Hippocampi
• Sulci

15
Our focus Hippocampus

• Next slides will explore the hippocampus
• which is the focus of your research project
• Points about the hippocampus
• Seat of long-term memory formation
• Subject to early deterioration in Alzheimers
  Disease

16
The Hippocampus
17
Hippocampi and Ventricles
Hippocampus (purple)
18
An elephant never forgets

• This shows the huge and convoluted hippocampus of
  an elephant (red)
• Greater hippocampus volume to brain ratio than in
  humans

19
Our Research ProjectLongitudinal Hippocampal
Change

• Hippocampus is a main site of degeneration in
  dementia
• Acquire brain image at time 1 and time 2
• Trace (manually) hippocampus at time 1
• Warp time 1 onto time 2
• Use the warp to automatically compute hippocampal
  volume at time 2

20
Warping

• No two brain images are alike
• Even for time 1 and time 2, local changes will
  occur
• Warping is a technique for computing these
  changes and morphing one image onto another
• It can highlight brain changes and compute
  differences

21
Uses of warping

• Slides show two views of longitudinal change
• Left panels earlier time
• Middle later time
• Right color-coded views of shifts
• Changes computed by warps

22
Your Role in Research

• Overall goal track hippocampal volume changes in
  20 subjects
• Steps
• Strip skulls from images
• Align time 1 and time 2 brains
• Trace hippocampus in each time
• Warp time 1 to time 2
• Compute hippocampal volume changes

23
Things you will learn

• Navigation in linux computers
• Basic linux commands
• Using software tools in linux environment
• Basic brain anatomy focusing on hippocampus
  (Mario)
• Tracing techniques (Mario)
• Concepts of image warping and volumetric
  calculations