From atsuko at bic.mni.mcgill.ca Mon Dec 3 11:31:15 2007 From: atsuko at bic.mni.mcgill.ca (Atsuko Nagano) Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 11:31:15 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] PET slot available Thursday afternoon, 6 Dec Message-ID: <16761c140712030831qfd819ber700d3a28782950f@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, I cancel my PET slot this Thursday afternoon (6th of Dec). Please email Stacey directly if you would take it. Thank you, Atsuko -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071203/63938061/attachment.html From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Mon Dec 3 15:09:43 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2007 15:09:43 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] NEXT BIC SEMINAR ON MONDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2007, Structural brain networks studied with cortical thickness measurements from MRI Message-ID: BIC SEMINAR SERIES MONDAY'S BIC SEMINAR Date: Monday, December 10, 2007 Time: 1:00 P.M. Place: de Grandpre Communications Centre Speaker: Yong He, Montreal Neurological Institute Title: Structural brain networks studied with cortical thickness measurements from MRI Jennifer PLEASE NOTE: This is the last seminar before the holidays. Jennifer Chew McConnell Brain Imaging Centre MNI - WB317 3801 University Street Montreal, Qc H3A 2B4 Telephone: 514-398-8554 Fax: 514-398-2975 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071203/08176630/attachment.html From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Tue Dec 4 12:59:31 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 12:59:31 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] FW: Killam Lecture - TODAY- Memory and Context-Dependent Modification of Stepping Walking Quadrupeds Message-ID: Please discard if this is a duplicate. Thank you. Jennifer ________________________________ From: MNISTAFF - Montreal Neurological Institute Staff [mailto:MNISTAFF at LISTS.MCGILL.CA] On Behalf Of Enza Ferracane, Ms. Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2007 10:27 AM To: MNISTAFF at LISTS.MCGILL.CA Subject: Killam Lecture - TODAY Importance: High KILLLAM LECTURE TODAY Speaker: Keir Pearson, PhD Department of Physiology, University of Alberta Title: Memory and Context-Dependent Modification of Stepping in Walking Quadrupeds Place: de Grandpre Communications Centre Time: 4:00 pm ------------------------------ Enza Ferracane Montreal Neurological Institute 3801 University Montreal, Quebec H3A 2B4 Director's Office, Rm 636 (514) 398-1903 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071204/1841c78b/attachment.html From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Tue Dec 4 15:10:29 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Tue, 4 Dec 2007 15:10:29 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] FINAL REMINDER - PLS. RSVP YOUR ATTENDANCE AT THE BICCHRISTMAS LUNCHEON Message-ID: Hello Everyone: THIS IS A FINAL REMINDER TO RSVP TO THE INVITATION TO THE BIC CHRISTMAS PARTY. I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO ADD YOU TO THE LIST AFTER TODAY. Thank you to all who have responded to the invitation from Bruce . I am attaching the invitation to this message for your information. Thank you. Jennifer Jennifer Chew McConnell Brain Imaging Centre MNI - WB317 3801 University Street Montreal, Qc H3A 2B4 Telephone: 514-398-8554 Fax: 514-398-2975 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071204/04f1ef64/attachment-0001.html -------------- next part -------------- A non-text attachment was scrubbed... Name: invitation party dec 2007.doc Type: application/msword Size: 53760 bytes Desc: invitation party dec 2007.doc Url : http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071204/04f1ef64/invitationpartydec2007-0001.doc -------------- next part -------------- An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed... Name: ATT9593015.txt Url: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071204/04f1ef64/ATT9593015-0001.txt From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Wed Dec 5 15:44:47 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 15:44:47 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] FW: Francis McNaughton Lecture - Dec 7 at 9:00 am Message-ID: PLEASE DISCARD IF THIS IS A DUPLICATE. THANK YOU. JENNIFER Jennifer Chew --------------------------------------------------------------- Francis McNaughton Lecture - "The expanding spectrum of myogenic progenitor cells" Friday December 7, 2007 at 9:00 am in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre Thomas Rando, MD, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Chief of Neurology, Veterans Administration, Paulo Alto Health Care System and Deputy Director, Stanford Center of Longevity, Stanford University. Dr. Thomas Rando is a world-renowned physician scientist. He obtained his BSc, MD and PhD from Harvard University and conducted his neurology training at the University of California (San Francisco). Dr. Rando spent four years as a research fellow at Stanford in Molecular Pharmacology. Dr. Rando's clinical focus is on neuromuscular diseases while his research concentrates on molecular biology of muscle development and ageing. Over a relatively short academic carrier he distinguished himself as a brilliant scientist receiving many honours and authored or coauthored over 70 major articles published in prestigious journals as Science, Nature, Cell etc. His early research focused on the biology of sodium channels in neural tissues. Currently he is working on the pathophysiology of dystrophin deficiency in skeletal muscle fibres and on the molecular biology of myogenesis and aging. In the latter fields, he clarified the molecular and cellular characteristics of the various types of myogenic progenitor cells, including stem cells, and their significance in cell therapy as well as aging. In his McNaughton Lecture, he will share with us his extensive experience in the latter fields. I hope that you will join us. Regards, George Karpati From vincent.gracco at mcgill.ca Thu Dec 6 11:56:36 2007 From: vincent.gracco at mcgill.ca (Vincent Gracco) Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2007 11:56:36 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] Seminar announcement Message-ID: Friday, December 7th at 1:30 pm -3:30 pm Room 1034, McIntyre Medical Building, 1200 av des Pins ouest Motor Cortex and Language Comprehension Dr. Steven Small is a professor of Neurology and Psychology at the University of Chicago. An important source of information for language comprehension comes from the perception of action, including the movements of the mouth and hands. The neural interactions involved in processing this information involve the premotor cortex, the inferior parietal lobule, and the superior temporal gyrus. These regions and the neural connections among them comprise a human system for observation- execution matching that appears to have a phylogenetic basis in the "mirror neuron" system of the macaque. It appears that this system operates in part by covert simulation of perceived action. In this talk, we present data from several studies of audiovisual language comprehension that support this thesis. First we discuss the role of action understanding in speech perception, and show how it aids phonological disambiguation across environmental and contextual variation, and that the motor cortex plays a fundamental role in the process. We also show evidence for the existence of abstract neural codes for speech percepts that are independent of their auditory or visual components. In the second part of the talk, we discuss the role of action understanding in higher order language comprehension, which occurs through observation of manual gesture. Here we will show that some hand movements have semiotic meaning on their own, and are encoded in the brain very much like language; that other hand movements have meaning by virtue of their interaction with accompanying speech; and that these two types of linguistically relevant hand movements differ from similar hand movements that do not have the same relationship to language. We conclude that the process of understanding language involves multimodal sensory processing, motor simulation, and processing of derived abstract representations, which collectively form a distributed circuit encoding comprehension. Sponsored by the Centre for Research on Language, Mind and Brain Vincent L. Gracco, Ph. D. McGill University Faculty of Medicine School of Communication Sciences & Disorders 1266 Pine Avenue West Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1A8 Telephone: (514) 398-7386 Fax: (514) 398-8123 E-mail: vincent.gracco at mcgill.ca -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071206/8af76434/attachment.html From vincent.gracco at mcgill.ca Thu Dec 6 12:15:40 2007 From: vincent.gracco at mcgill.ca (Vincent Gracco) Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2007 12:15:40 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] Help wanted Message-ID: <75E2BE87-28D3-4B3A-A844-1A9BEC58C647@mcgill.ca> The Centre for Research on Language, Mind and Brain located at 3640 rue de la Montagne (Rabinovitch House) is looking for someone with a background in electrical/computer/biomedical engineering to get our EEG, TMS and movement labs at the Centre in better working order (more user friendly), to improve some of the recording conditions (reducing noise, improve grounding, set up some additional equipment, etc) and possibly some simple programming. Matlab experience would be helpful. This is a part-time temporary position with the possibility of the position evolving into a more permanent one. If interested please send a short resume to Vincent Gracco (vincent.gracco at mcgill.ca). Vincent L. Gracco, Ph. D. McGill University Faculty of Medicine School of Communication Sciences & Disorders 1266 Pine Avenue West Montreal, Quebec, Canada H3G 1A8 Telephone: (514) 398-7386 Fax: (514) 398-8123 E-mail: vincent.gracco at mcgill.ca -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071206/7360caeb/attachment.html From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Thu Dec 6 16:39:47 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2007 16:39:47 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] FW: Francis McNaughton Lecture - TOMORROW Message-ID: PLEASE DISCARD IF THIS IS A DUPLICATE. THANK YOU. JENNIFER Jennifer Chew McConnell Brain Imaging Centre MNI - WB317 3801 University Street Montreal, Qc H3A 2B4 Telephone: 514-398-8554 Fax: 514-398-2975 ________________________________ From: MNISTAFF - Montreal Neurological Institute Staff [mailto:MNISTAFF at LISTS.MCGILL.CA] On Behalf Of Enza Ferracane, Ms. Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 2:24 PM To: MNISTAFF at LISTS.MCGILL.CA Subject: Francis McNaughton Lecture - TOMORROW *****REMINDER***** --------------------------------------------------------------- Francis McNaughton Lecture - "The expanding spectrum of myogenic progenitor cells" Friday December 7, 2007 at 9:00 am in the Jeanne Timmins Amphitheatre Thomas Rando, MD, PhD Associate Professor, Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Chief of Neurology, Veterans Administration, Paulo Alto Health Care System and Deputy Director, Stanford Center of Longevity, Stanford University. Dr. Thomas Rando is a world-renowned physician scientist. He obtained his BSc, MD and PhD from Harvard University and conducted his neurology training at the University of California (San Francisco). Dr. Rando spent four years as a research fellow at Stanford in Molecular Pharmacology. Dr. Rando's clinical focus is on neuromuscular diseases while his research concentrates on molecular biology of muscle development and ageing. Over a relatively short academic carrier he distinguished himself as a brilliant scientist receiving many honours and authored or coauthored over 70 major articles published in prestigious journals as Science, Nature, Cell etc. His early research focused on the biology of sodium channels in neural tissues. Currently he is working on the pathophysiology of dystrophin deficiency in skeletal muscle fibres and on the molecular biology of myogenesis and aging. In the latter fields, he clarified the molecular and cellular characteristics of the various types of myogenic progenitor cells, including stem cells, and their significance in cell therapy as well as aging. In his McNaughton Lecture, he will share with us his extensive experience in the latter fields. I hope that you will join us. Regards, George Karpati -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071206/c5cb5f1a/attachment.html From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Fri Dec 7 09:56:08 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 09:56:08 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] ***REMINDER*** MONDAY'S BIC SEMINAR , DECEMBER 10, 2007, Structural brain networks studied with cortical thicknessmeasurements from MRI Message-ID: ***REMINDER*** BIC SEMINAR SERIES MONDAY'S BIC SEMINAR Date: Monday, December 10, 2007 Time: 1:00 P.M. Place: de Grandpre Communications Centre Speaker: Yong He, Montreal Neurological Institute Title: Structural brain networks studied with cortical thickness measurements from MRI Jennifer PLEASE NOTE: This is the last seminar before the holidays. Jennifer Chew McConnell Brain Imaging Centre MNI - WB317 3801 University Street Montreal, Qc H3A 2B4 Telephone: 514-398-8554 Fax: 514-398-2975 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071207/35678723/attachment-0001.html From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Fri Dec 7 15:24:05 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Fri, 7 Dec 2007 15:24:05 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] =?iso-8859-1?q?FW=3A_=5BNEURO=5D_TEST_G=C9N=C9RATR?= =?iso-8859-1?q?ICE_SAMEDI_15_D=C9C=2707_-_7_H_-_9_H?= Message-ID: There will be a generator test (diesel) in all pavilions MNH/I SATURDAY morning, Decenber 15th 2007 from 07hr00 to 09hr00 During that period, the emergency power (generator) will be in function. Please make appropriate arrangements in your area: turn off your computers before you leave, and take all precautions to protect other equipment that might be affected. If you have questions, please call Mr. Wilfredo Banegas local 34003. We regret any inconvenience this may cause. Jennifer Chew McConnell Brain Imaging Centre MNI - WB317 3801 University Street Montreal, Qc H3A 2B4 Telephone: 514-398-8554 Fax: 514-398-2975 ________________________________ From: neuro [mailto:NEURO at LISTS.MCGILL.CA] On Behalf Of Marie Lafontaine Sent: Friday, December 07, 2007 10:23 AM To: NEURO at LISTS.MCGILL.CA Subject: [NEURO] TEST G?N?RATRICE SAMEDI 15 D?C'07 - 7 H - 9 H (See attached file: G?n?ratrice (diesel test) samedi 15 D?C.2007 - 7h ? 9h.doc) From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Mon Dec 10 09:33:30 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 09:33:30 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] TODAY'S BIC SEMINAR , DECEMBER 10, 2007, Structural brain networks studied with cortical thicknessmeasurementsfrom MRI Message-ID: TODAY'S SEMINAR BIC SEMINAR SERIES MONDAY'S BIC SEMINAR Date: Monday, December 10, 2007 Time: 1:00 P.M. Place: de Grandpre Communications Centre Speaker: Yong He, Montreal Neurological Institute Title: Structural brain networks studied with cortical thickness measurements from MRI Jennifer PLEASE NOTE: This is the last seminar before the holidays. Jennifer Chew McConnell Brain Imaging Centre MNI - WB317 3801 University Street Montreal, Qc H3A 2B4 Telephone: 514-398-8554 Fax: 514-398-2975 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071210/a9dc2f49/attachment.html From atsuko at bic.mni.mcgill.ca Mon Dec 10 12:00:04 2007 From: atsuko at bic.mni.mcgill.ca (Atsuko Nagano) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:00:04 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] PET slot available Thursday afternoon, 13 Dec Message-ID: <16761c140712100900m21c210c8ia04d8b125b4d9013@mail.gmail.com> Dear all, I cancel my PET slot this Thursday afternoon (13th of Dec). Please email Stacey directly if you would take it. Thank you, Atsuko From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Mon Dec 10 12:29:19 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Mon, 10 Dec 2007 12:29:19 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] FW: Killam - Tuesday, December 11, 2007 Message-ID: PLEASE DISCARD IF THIS IS A DUPLICATE. THANK YOU. JENNIFER Killam Lecture Speaker: Alan Fine, PhD, VetMD Department of Physiology & Biophysics Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS Title: How Long Term Synaptic Plasticity is Expressed: Observation on Individual Visualized Synapses in Hippocampus Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 Time: 4:00 pm ------------------------------------- Dear colleagues, Our Killam speaker this week is Alan Fine. He uses sophisticated optical methods to examine the mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity during LTP, In particular using multiphoton technology in slices he has discovered novel mechanisms of calcium regulation that are specific to spines and has shown in adult animals much of LTP is explained by regulation of release from presynaptic terminals. He gives a wonderful talk and I hope you can join me on Tuesday at 4:00. -- Reid CA, Dixon DB, Takahashi M, Bliss TV, Fine A. Optical quantal analysis indicates that long-term potentiation at single hippocampal mossy fiber synapses is expressed through increased release probability, recruitment of new release sites, and activation of silent synapses. J Neurosci. 2004 Apr 7;24(14):3618-26. Emptage NJ, Reid CA, Fine A, Bliss TV. Optical quantal analysis reveals a presynaptic component of LTP at hippocampal Schaffer-associational synapses. Neuron. 2003 Jun 5;38(5):797-804. Ward B, McGuinness L, Akerman CJ, Fine A, Bliss TV, Emptage NJ. State-dependent mechanisms of LTP expression revealed by optical quantal analysis. Neuron. 2006 Nov 22;52(4):649-61. Rusakov DA, Fine A. Extracellular Ca2+ depletion contributes to fast activity-dependent modulation of synaptic transmission in the brain. Neuron. 2003 Jan 23;37(2):287-97. Wayne Sossin Professor, Dept. Neurology and Neurosurgery William Dawson Scholar Montreal Neurological Institute McGill University Phone: 1-514-398-1486 Email Wayne.sossin at mcgill.ca -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071210/f5b50a5e/attachment.html From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Tue Dec 11 09:33:50 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Tue, 11 Dec 2007 09:33:50 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] FW: Killam - TODAY Message-ID: PLEASE DISCARD IF THIS IS A DUPLICATE. THANK YOU. JENNIFER *****REMINDER***** Killam Lecture Speaker: Alan Fine, PhD, VetMD Department of Physiology & Biophysics Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS Title: How Long Term Synaptic Plasticity is Expressed: Observation on Individual Visualized Synapses in Hippocampus Date: Tuesday, December 11, 2007 Time: 4:00 pm ------------------------------------- Dear colleagues, Our Killam speaker this week is Alan Fine. He uses sophisticated optical methods to examine the mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity during LTP, In particular using multiphoton technology in slices he has discovered novel mechanisms of calcium regulation that are specific to spines and has shown in adult animals much of LTP is explained by regulation of release from presynaptic terminals. He gives a wonderful talk and I hope you can join me on Tuesday at 4:00. -- Reid CA, Dixon DB, Takahashi M, Bliss TV, Fine A. Optical quantal analysis indicates that long-term potentiation at single hippocampal mossy fiber synapses is expressed through increased release probability, recruitment of new release sites, and activation of silent synapses. J Neurosci. 2004 Apr 7;24(14):3618-26. Emptage NJ, Reid CA, Fine A, Bliss TV. Optical quantal analysis reveals a presynaptic component of LTP at hippocampal Schaffer-associational synapses. Neuron. 2003 Jun 5;38(5):797-804. Ward B, McGuinness L, Akerman CJ, Fine A, Bliss TV, Emptage NJ. State-dependent mechanisms of LTP expression revealed by optical quantal analysis. Neuron. 2006 Nov 22;52(4):649-61. Rusakov DA, Fine A. Extracellular Ca2+ depletion contributes to fast activity-dependent modulation of synaptic transmission in the brain. Neuron. 2003 Jan 23;37(2):287-97. Wayne Sossin Professor, Dept. Neurology and Neurosurgery William Dawson Scholar Montreal Neurological Institute McGill University Phone: 1-514-398-1486 Email Wayne.sossin at mcgill.ca -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071211/32aa3d1d/attachment-0001.html From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Wed Dec 12 16:12:07 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Wed, 12 Dec 2007 16:12:07 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] Jacqueline Chen's defense Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007, 9:15 A.M. Message-ID: Jacqueline T. Chen Ph.D. ORAL DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING Date: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 Time: 9:15 a.m. Location: De Grandpr? Communications Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University Title: Image-processing of MRI for measuring brain injury, repair and degeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis Abstract: This thesis presents methods for quantitative MRI analysis of brain injury, repair and degeneration in multiple sclerosis (MS) that provide new insights into disease pathogenesis and evolution. Demyelinated and inflammatory white-matter lesions are hallmark features of MS. A methodology is described to detect regions of acute white-matter lesions that undergo myelin destruction and repair based on analysis of magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) images. Validation is performed based on histopathology and error is assessed based on same-day scans. To quantify the spatial extent and temporal evolution of myelin destruction and repair, data from a 3-year clinical trial is analyzed using this method. Approximately 20 % of acute lesion voxels show some repair over the initial 7 months. In subsequent months, there is little further repair, but some increases in the lesion volume undergoing demyelination. Although less conspicuous on conventional MRI, there is considerable MS pathology in the brain tissue outside of white-matter lesions. An image-processing methodology was developed to obtain accurate metrics that quantify change over time in whole-brain MTR (associated with changes in myelin-density) and in T2 relaxation time (associated with changes in inflammatory edema). These metrics, in addition to metrics of brain atrophy and axonal integrity, were used to quantify brain injury and degeneration following immunoablation and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation therapy for MS. Pronounced brain volume loss was detected immediately following therapy, associated with decreased myelin density and not resolution of edema. Post-mortem histopathology has revealed abnormalities in the cortical grey-matter of MS patients that appear to be independent of white-matter lesions. A methodology to quantify neocortical injury and degeneration that yields cross-sectional and longitudinal metrics of cortical thickness and grey-matter/white-matter interface integrity both globally and regionally is presented and validated. MS patients with progressive disability showed greater decreases in cortical metrics compared to MS patients with stable disability. The quantitative MRI analysis methods presented in this thesis are applicable to MRI data obtained in clinical trials of therapies for MS, have the necessary sensitivity and specificity to assess therapeutic efficacy, and provide new insights into disease pathogenesis and evolution. Jennifer Chew McConnell Brain Imaging Centre MNI - WB317 3801 University Street Montreal, Qc H3A 2B4 Telephone: 514-398-8554 Fax: 514-398-2975 From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Mon Dec 17 10:15:25 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Mon, 17 Dec 2007 10:15:25 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] REMINDER - Jacqueline Chen's defense Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2007, 9:15 A.M. Message-ID: ***REMINDER*** Jacqueline T. Chen Ph.D. ORAL DEFENSE DEPARTMENT OF BIOMEDICAL ENGINEERING Date: Tuesday, December 18, 2007 Time: 9:15 a.m. Location: De Grandpr? Communications Centre, Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University Title: Image-processing of MRI for measuring brain injury, repair and degeneration in patients with multiple sclerosis Abstract: This thesis presents methods for quantitative MRI analysis of brain injury, repair and degeneration in multiple sclerosis (MS) that provide new insights into disease pathogenesis and evolution. Demyelinated and inflammatory white-matter lesions are hallmark features of MS. A methodology is described to detect regions of acute white-matter lesions that undergo myelin destruction and repair based on analysis of magnetization transfer ratio (MTR) images. Validation is performed based on histopathology and error is assessed based on same-day scans. To quantify the spatial extent and temporal evolution of myelin destruction and repair, data from a 3-year clinical trial is analyzed using this method. Approximately 20 % of acute lesion voxels show some repair over the initial 7 months. In subsequent months, there is little further repair, but some increases in the lesion volume undergoing demyelination. Although less conspicuous on conventional MRI, there is considerable MS pathology in the brain tissue outside of white-matter lesions. An image-processing methodology was developed to obtain accurate metrics that quantify change over time in whole-brain MTR (associated with changes in myelin-density) and in T2 relaxation time (associated with changes in inflammatory edema). These metrics, in addition to metrics of brain atrophy and axonal integrity, were used to quantify brain injury and degeneration following immunoablation and autologous hematopoietic stem cell transplantation therapy for MS. Pronounced brain volume loss was detected immediately following therapy, associated with decreased myelin density and not resolution of edema. Post-mortem histopathology has revealed abnormalities in the cortical grey-matter of MS patients that appear to be independent of white-matter lesions. A methodology to quantify neocortical injury and degeneration that yields cross-sectional and longitudinal metrics of cortical thickness and grey-matter/white-matter interface integrity both globally and regionally is presented and validated. MS patients with progressive disability showed greater decreases in cortical metrics compared to MS patients with stable disability. The quantitative MRI analysis methods presented in this thesis are applicable to MRI data obtained in clinical trials of therapies for MS, have the necessary sensitivity and specificity to assess therapeutic efficacy, and provide new insights into disease pathogenesis and evolution. Jennifer Chew McConnell Brain Imaging Centre MNI - WB317 3801 University Street Montreal, Qc H3A 2B4 Telephone: 514-398-8554 Fax: 514-398-2975 _______________________________________________ BIC-announce mailing list BIC-announce at bic.mni.mcgill.ca http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/mailman/listinfo/bic-announce From jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca Wed Dec 19 16:34:48 2007 From: jennifer.chew at mcgill.ca (Jennifer Chew, Ms.) Date: Wed, 19 Dec 2007 16:34:48 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] NEXT BIC SEMINAR , JANUARY 7, 2008, PET Studies of Parkinson's disease and healthy aging Message-ID: BIC SEMINAR SERIES NEXT BIC SEMINAR Date: Monday, January 7, 2008 Time: 1:00 P.M. Place: de Grandpre Communications Centre Speaker: Dr. Paul Cumming Title: PET Studies of Parkinson's disease and healthy aging Jennifer Jennifer Chew McConnell Brain Imaging Centre MNI - WB317 3801 University Street Montreal, Qc H3A 2B4 Telephone: 514-398-8554 Fax: 514-398-2975 -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/pipermail/bic-announce/attachments/20071219/18b7508b/attachment.html From belinda.preziosi at mcgill.ca Thu Dec 20 10:08:46 2007 From: belinda.preziosi at mcgill.ca (Belinda Preziosi, Ms.) Date: Thu, 20 Dec 2007 10:08:46 -0500 Subject: [BIC-announce] PROTOCOLS FOR SUBMISSION Message-ID: To: B.I.C. Personnel From: Belinda Preziosi Date: December 20th, 2007 Subject: PROTOCOLS FOR SUBMISSION Hello, Please note that if you have any new or re-submission protocols for review by the PET Working Committee, Fifteen (15) copies of the protocol along with both the English and French consent forms (one copy, only, of the French Consent Form) must be submitted by Tuesday, January 8th, 2008 in Webster 220. For the most recent version of the Protocols and English and French Consent Forms, please see: http://www.bic.mni.mcgill.ca/admin/protocols. Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for 2008! Regards Jean Paul Soucy Belinda Preziosi Administrative Coordinator McConnell Brain Imaging Center Montreal Neurological Institute Room WB220 3801 University Montreal, QC H3A 2B4 Tel: (514) 398-1585 Fax: (514) 398-8948 Email: belinda.preziosi at mcgill.ca -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... 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