High Spatiotemporal Resolution Imaging of the Anatomical and Functional Organization of the Primate Brain
Webinar Overview
Due to their retention of primate anatomical and functional organization, marmosets provide particular advantages for studies on a range of diseases, especially those related to aging. Prof. Afonso Silva talks about his fMRI and aging studies with marmosets as well as his work on standardization of marmoset studies.
Prof. Silva describes his work with marmosets, involving standardized protocols for T1, T2, T2*, proton density, and MTR as well as the creation of cortical, white matter, main white matter fiber pathways and population-based atlases. He then explains how he carries out fMRI studies, starting with awake animal adaption to the animal cradle, adaption of individual 3D-printed helmets with embedded rf coil arrays, and his results with somatosensory, audio, visual and resting state fMRI. He then discusses animal models for multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s, among others.
Prof. Silva shows extremely high 3D resolution marmoset brain images and shows how these can be used in fMRI studies of i.e. visual stimulation, localizing facial recognition affinity to anterior brain areas as opposed to the primary visual cortex per se. He also presents a range of disease studies, such as a multiple sclerosis model where lesions can be visualized in the white matter and spinal cord.
On Demand Session
Key Learnings
Marmosets Imaging
- Retention of primate anatomical and functional organization
- Atlases
- Development of standardized protocols
fMRI
- Comparison of awake and anesthetized studies
- Adaption to animal cradle and coil-embedded helmet
- Somatosensory, audio, visual and resting state fMRI
Aging Studies
- EAE model for multiple sclerosis
- CADASIL model
- Early onset Alheimer’s disease model
Who should attend?
Researchers interested in learning more about non-human primate studies, in particular marmoset studies, will receive a good overview of current advancements within this field as well as learning more about the nuts and bolts of performing awake marmosets studies.
Speakers
Dr. Alfonso Silva
Professor, University of Pittsburgh
Dr. Silva received his Bachelor's Degree in Electrical Engineering from Universidade Federal de Pernambuco in Recife, Brazil, and his Ph.D. in Bioengineering from Carnegie Mellon University, where he worked on non-invasive MRI measurements of cerebral blood flow using the arterial spin labeling technique. He did his post-doctoral training in the Center for Magnetic Resonance Research at the University of Minnesota, where he studied the temporal and spatial characteristics of functional brain hemodynamics. Dr. Silva joined NINDS as a Staff Scientist in 1999, and became a tenure-track investigator in 2004. Dr. Silva obtained tenure in 2012. His laboratory combines modern neuroimaging techniques (functional MRI, and optical imaging) with electrophysiological recordings aimed at understanding the mechanisms of regulation of cerebral blood flow during normal and stimulation-induced brain activity. In 2018, Dr. Silva was invited to occupy an Endowed Chair Full Professor of Neurobiology position at the University of Pittsburgh.