Normal Brain and Cognitive Function

There are two reasons we perform functional brain imaging and cognitive studies with healthy individuals. First, we have ongoing scientific interest in how activity in different regions of the brain supports different sensory, cognitive, emotional and motor functions. Similarly, we investigate cognitive and visual system function in the laboratory to learn how people’s performance varies across different types of task conditions. Detailed delineation of the functional anatomy of different brain circuits, and discrimination of the unique computational activities performed by their component structures, has not yet been achieved in humans. Further, with interest in how brain chemistry modulates its physiologic function and cognition, we actively conduct studies giving drugs, hormones or other agents to investigate their effects on brain and behavior. Comprehensive understanding of normal the anatomy and function of the brain allows us to expand our knowledge about normal human function and to design better studies aiming to understand the psychological impact of changes in the brain due to developmental abnormalities, disease and acquired injury.

The second reason we conduct studies of healthy individuals is to have comparison data for our clinical studies. For example, if we want to determine whether a group of patients with a specific disease has an abnormality in brain function, we need parallel data from healthy individuals to statistically compare with the patient data to determine the presence and severity of any disturbance in a brain region of interest. These studies typically involve clinical interviews to establish mental and medical healthy, performing some cognitive tasks in an office or laboratory setting, and performing a cognitive task while brain activity is monitored.

Our lab's definitions for oculomotor regions of interest (ROIs)

Our lab's definitions for affective regions of interest

Research Participants