Medical Student Research Fellowship for Summer 2003
Mentor: Zerrin Yetkin, M.D.
Department: Radiology
Room number: CS5.102
Mail Code: 8896
Phone number: 214-590-4517
E-mail: Zerrin.Yetkin@UTSouthwestern.edu
3 Projects
Project I title: Functional MRI of functional connectivity of language regions in patients with brain tumor
Human subjects IRB approved project number: 0700-316
Animal subjects IRB approved project number: N/A
Project Type: Patient-based research
Brief Description of Project:
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive technique to
detect focal neuronal activity of human brain. Functional MRI has been used
to investigate cortical activities of human brain in response to several tasks
such as visual, auditory, motor, sensory, and language. Functional MRI has been
successfully performed to study the brain activation in healthy volunteers and
patients with various disorders such as epilepsy, intracranial lesions, schizophrenia,
Alzheimer's disease, depression, Parkinson's disease, Tourrette's syndrome,
and hearing impairment. Previous fMRI studies have been investigating the brain
function in response to various tasks performed by subjects. However, recently,
the P.I. and colleagues reported a new fMRI technique to detect spontaneous
brain activity in the primary cortices and basal ganglia.
The overall objective of this study is the in-depth investigation of the functional
connectivity of resting human brain in health and disease using fMRI. Patients
with a variety of disorders and healthy volunteers undergo fMRI while resting
and performing visual, auditory, and sensorimotor tasks. Specifically, the medical
student will be involved in the investigation of language function detected
with auditory and visual tasks in patients with brain tumor. The information
obtained from this aspect of the study will identify and characterize alterations
in the connectivity of brain regions serving language in patients with brain
tumor. This information may be useful to better evaluate language impairment
in patients with brain tumor.
Project II title: Functional MRI of functional connectivity of sensorimotor cortices in patients with brain tumor.
Human subjects IRB approved project number: 0700-316
Animal subjects IRB approved project number: N/A
Project Type: Patient-based research
Brief Description of Project:
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive technique to
detect focal neuronal activity of human brain. Functional MRI has been used
to investigate cortical activities of human brain in response to several tasks
such as visual, auditory, motor, sensory, and language. Functional MRI has been
successfully performed to study the brain activation in healthy volunteers and
patients with various disorders such as epilepsy, intracranial lesions, schizophrenia,
Alzheimer's disease, depression, Parkinson's disease, Tourrette's syndrome,
and hearing impairment. Previous fMRI studies have been investigating the brain
function in response to various tasks performed by subjects. However, recently,
the P.I. and colleagues reported a new fMRI technique to detect spontaneous
brain activity in the primary cortices and basal ganglia.
The overall objective of this study is the in-depth investigation of the functional
connectivity of resting human brain in health and disease using fMRI. Patients
with a variety of disorders and healthy volunteers undergo fMRI while resting
and performing visual, auditory, and sensorimotor tasks. Specifically, the medical
student will be involved in the investigation of sensorimotor function in patients
with brain tumor. The information obtained from this aspect of the study will
identify and characterize the changes in connectivity of sensorimotor cortices
in patients with brain tumor. This information may contribute to the prognostic
value of preoperative fMRI mapping for sensorimotor deficits.
Project III title: Functional MRI of functional connectivity of regions serving memory and language in patients with epilepsy.
Human subjects IRB approved project number: 0700-316
Animal subjects IRB approved project number: N/A
Project Type: Patient-based research
Brief Description of Project:
Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a non-invasive technique to
detect focal neuronal activity of human brain. Functional MRI has been used
to investigate cortical activities of human brain in response to several tasks
such as visual, auditory, motor, sensory, and language. Functional MRI has been
successfully performed to study the brain activation in healthy volunteers and
patients with various disorders such as epilepsy, intracranial lesions, schizophrenia,
Alzheimer's disease, depression, Parkinson's disease, Tourrette's syndrome,
and hearing impairment. Previous fMRI studies have been investigating the brain
function in response to various tasks performed by subjects. However, recently,
the P.I. and colleagues reported a new fMRI technique to detect spontaneous
brain activity in the primary cortices and basal ganglia.
The overall objective of this study is the in-depth investigation of the functional
connectivity of resting human brain in health and disease using fMRI. Patients
with a variety of disorders and healthy volunteers undergo fMRI while resting
and performing visual, auditory, and sensorimotor tasks. Specifically, the medical
student will be involved in the investigation of memory and language function
detected with auditory and visual tasks in patients with epilepsy. The information
obtained from this aspect of the study has a potential for better understanding
of alterations in the connectivity and inter-hemispheric dominance of brain
circuitry serving language in patients with epilepsy.
Previous Research Activities or Publications with Medical Students:
Miller MJ, Mark LP, Yetkin FZ, Ho KC, Haughton VM, Estkowski L, Wong E. Imaging white matter tract and nuclei of hypothalamus: An MR anatomic comparative study. American Journal of Neuroradiology 15:117-121, 1994.
Lindsey RO, Yetkin FZ, Prost R, Haughton VM. Effect of dose and field strength
on enhancement with paramagnetic contrast media. American Journal of Neuroradiology
15:1849-1852, 1994.
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