NEUROIMAGING TOOLS FOR ASSESSING VISUAL SYSTEM PATHOLOGY

该子项目是利用NIH/NCRR资助的中心赠款提供的资源的许多研究子项目之一。子项目和研究者（PI）可能从另一个NIH来源获得主要资金，因此可以在其他CRISP条目中表示。所列机构为中心，不一定是研究者所在机构。该项目的目标是开发功能性磁共振成像（fMRI）应用程序，用于评估人类大脑相关的视觉病理学。这项工作将解决一个关键的临床需要的复杂的术前评估方法，可以提供一个精确的，详细的图片之间的关系的一个网站的局灶性病理和周围的视觉皮层的功能状态。这些信息对于规划手术治疗是必不可少的，这些手术治疗最佳地去除或修复病变（例如肿瘤），同时避免显著的视力丧失。生物工程将用于开发，优化和验证方法，用于映射病理部位及其周围的视觉皮层功能，并将皮层功能障碍与视觉障碍联系起来。交互式医生界面将允许临床医生以易于使用的格式查看这些分析的结果，并允许模拟手术策略，并立即显示对视力的潜在影响。患者将能够体验预期视力丧失的模拟，从而允许医生和患者评估所提议的治疗。开发的工具也将被应用到假设驱动的实验，旨在表征局灶性病理，皮质功能和视觉感知的基本相互关系，无论是急性和他们在治疗和恢复过程中的演变。将比较和对比不同病理的皮质效应，包括卒中、AVM、癫痫灶和肿瘤。还将测试不同神经机制对视觉功能恢复的相对贡献。该项目的最终目标是为卫生保健专业人员和患者提供新的信息，他们可以使用这些信息来评估不同的治疗方案，并预测最佳结果的可能性。新的病理与功能的大脑地图应该使曾经被认为风险太大的外科手术成为一个可行的选择。实验工作将建立原则相互关联的皮质病理学，功能障碍，并恢复，可以扩展到大部分，如果不是所有的大脑。最后，这个项目将为基础神经科学研究转化为临床有用的应用提供一个有用的模型。

This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The goal of this project is to develop functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) applications for the assessment of brain-related visual pathology in humans. The work will address a critical clinical need for sophisticated methods of preoperative assessment that can provide a precise, detailed picture of the relationship between a site of focal pathology and the functional status of surrounding visual cortex. Such information can be essential for planning surgical treatment that optimally removes or repairs a pathology (e.g. tumor) yet avoids significant vision loss. Bioengineering will be used to develop, optimize and validate methods for mapping visual cortex function in and around a site of pathology and relating disturbances of cortical function to disturbances of vision. An interactive physician interface will allow the clinician to view the results of these analyses in an easy to use format and will permit simulation of surgical strategies with immediate display of the potential impact on vision. The patient will be able to experience a simulation of the expected vision loss, thereby allowing both physician and patient to evaluate the proposed treatment. The developed tools will also be applied to hypothesis-driven experimentation designed to characterize the fundamental interrelationships of focal pathology, cortical function, and visual perception both acutely and as they evolve over the course of treatment and recovery. The cortical effects of different pathologies including stroke, AVM's, epileptic foci and tumors will be compared and contrasted. The relative contributions of different neural mechanisms to recovery of visual function will also be tested. The ultimate goal of this project will be to provide health-care professionals and patients with new information they can use to evaluate different treatment options and predict the potential for an optimal outcome. The new brain maps of pathology vs. function should make surgical procedures, once considered too risky, a viable option. The experimental work will establish principles interrelating cortical pathology, functional impairment, and recovery that can be extended to much, if not all, of the brain. Finally, this project will provide a useful model for the translation of basic neuroscience research into clinically useful applications.