1. EMERGING TECHNIQUES
How to combine neuroimaging measures: The effects of early blindness Ione Fine UW Psychology

2. Why combine neuroimaging measures?
Most pathologies have a wide range of interrelated neural effects.
A wide variety of non-invasive neuroimaging techniques are now available to examine structural organization of the brain, neural functioning and cognition/behavior.
Only just beginning to develop methods for analyzing interrelationships between different modalities of neuroimaging data within individuals or across subject groups.

3. Early Blindness Deterioration of cortical visual abilities
Increase in gray matter thickness
Reduced GABA
Widespread increased responses to auditory and tactile stimuli in occipital cortex
Reductions in white matter
Increased metabolic demand
Reduced cortical folding in occipital cortex
Increased choline, myoIns & creatine
Better performance on tactile & auditory tasks

4. How do we link different neuroimaging measures?
Correlations across individual subjects
Associations over time
Associated response to interventions
Associated responses within the brain

5. Subject Mike May Blinded by a chemical accident at age 3.
Light sensitive between ages 3-43
Sight restored in right eye by corneal epithelial stem cell replacement by Dr. Daniel Goodman (March 7th, 2000)
Fine et. al, Nature Neuroscience, 2003

6. MM
control
ring
(medial)
(lateral)

7. Probabilistic Diffusion Tensor Imaging

9. MM
control
ring
(medial)

10. Thank you!