MRI: DEVELOPMENT OF FNIRS EQUIPMENT FOR ASSESSING FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN BRAIN INJURY

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PI: Alvarez, TaraProposal: 1428425Title: MRI: DEVELOPMENT OF FNIRS EQUIPMENT FOR ASSESSING FUNCTIONAL CONNECTIVITY IN BRAIN INJURYSignificanceThis project can have a large impact. There are many clinical populations including: TBI, stroke, multiple sclerosis, autism, neurodegenerative disorders and aging, which could be studied with the proposed equipment and integrated platform. The PIs were the first to study fMRI and eye movements in vision rehabilitation in mTBI, which can potentially impact the health care management of vision dysfunction. Functional brain connectivity and eye movements show promise as potential biomarker(s) to quantitatively measure neurological function in such clinical issues as moderate traumatic brain injury (mTBI) in athletes and soldiers, as well as in children with vision dysfunction and mTBI. The PIs will integrate this platform into their signal processing and instrumentation courses. The PIs have a history of outreach activities previously funded through an NSF CAREER award and the NIH. All those activities will continue, which include: mentorship of under-represented grade school, high school, undergraduate, and graduate (Masters and Ph.D.) students.Technical DescriptionThis proposal requests funding to design an integrated, portable functional near infrared spectroscopy instrument (fNIRS) that was successfully developed with Vision and Neural Assessment Equipment. The system will have the following capabilities: 1) custom software with user-friendly script language to program independent and multiple visual stimuli, 2) simultaneous recording of functional connectivity with fNIRS and eye movement responses, 3) library of visual stimuli for other clinicians to use and 4) data analysis algorithms to determine potential brain connectivity measures or biomarkers that are sensitive and specific in identifying neurological and visual deficits. This transformative project will enable basic and clinical research scientists to assess brain functions in normal and impaired populations.