Advanced Multimodal Neuroimaging Traini ng
Program
149 Thirteenth St., Room 2301, Charlestown MA
02129
Suggested Courses and Activities
A goal of the program is to promote an integrated curriculum that combines neuroscience with the
physical and biological principles, technologies, and data analytic methods of neuroimaging by
encouraging students to take courses and participate in activities that are outside their traditional area
of study.
Interdisciplinary courses are offered at Harvard and MIT and should supplement the requirements of the
student’s home graduate program. For a neuroscience-oriented student, this may mean taking
engineering or physics oriented courses for image acquisition or image analysis, or for physical and
computationally oriented students, taking basic and clinical neuroscience courses. Harvard and MIT
students will be able to freely cross-register for courses at both institutions. Many other courses are also
available.
Other, less formal educational activities may include journal clubs, seminar series, lab meetings, short
courses, conferences etc. Trainees will be allotted $750 to defray the cost of attending one scientific
meeting, preferably complimentary to, but outside his/her typical field.
Neuroscience courses
Neurobiology 200
Introduction to Neurobiology
Modern neuroscience from molecular neurobiology to perception and cognition.
Includes cell biology of neurons and glia; ion channels and electrical signaling;
synaptic transmission and integration; chemical systems; brain anatomy and
development; sensory systems; motor systems; higher cognitive function.
(Corey/Assad/Frosch/Goodrich)
Neurobiology 204
Neurophysiology of Central
Circuits
Introduction to the physiology of circuits in the vertebrate central nervous system.
Topics include the auditory, somatosensory, olfactory, visual and oculomotor
systems. (Reid/Assad/Born)
Neurobiology 207
Developmental Neurobiology
Development of the nervous system. Topics include: delineation of neural vs.
non-neural tissues; axial and segmental patterning; cell lineage; specification of
neuronal identity; axonal outgrowth and guidance; synapse formation and
regression; hormonal influences on nervous system development.
(Ma/Segal/Dieitmar/Schmucker)
Neurobiology 209
Neurobiology of Disease
Designed for graduate students interested in diseases and disorders of the
nervous system. One weekly session involves patient presentations and "core"
lectures describing progression, pathology and basic science underlying a major
disease or disorder. During a second weekly session, students present material
from original literature sources, and there is discussion.
(Kravitz/Brown/Koroshetz)
BCS 9.011
Systems Neuroscience
Survey of principles underlying the structure and function of the nervous system,
with a focus on systems approaches. Topics: development of the nervous system
and its connections, sensory systems of the brain, the motor system, higher
cortical functions, behavioral and cellular analyses of learning and memory. A
survey of brain and behavioral studies for first-year graduate students. Open to
graduate students in other departments with permission of instructor.
(Miller/Wilson/Staff)
BCS 9.100
Cognitive Neuroscience
Course topics explore the relations between neural systems and cognition,
emphasizing attention, vision, language, motor control, and memory. An
introduction to basic neuroanatomy, functional imaging techniques, and
behavioral measures of cognition is given with discussion of methods by which
inferences about the brain bases of cognition are made. Evidence from patients
with neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease,
Huntington's disease, Balint's syndrome, amnesia, and focal lesions from stroke
is given as well as from normal human participants. (Corkin)
HST 130
Introduction to
Neuroscience
This team-taught, comprehensive course explores major concepts in
neuroscience on several levels ranging from molecules and cells through neural
systems, perception cognition and behavior. Aspects of neuropharmacology,
pathophysiology, neurology, and psychiatry are covered as well. Class meets
three times per week for lecture followed by conferences and/or laboratories.
Laboratories review neuroanatomy of brain and spinal cord at the gross and
microscopic levels. (Team taught including Core faculty members Rosen
and/Schacter)
Courses on Fundamental Principles of Neuroimaging – Acquisition and Analysis
HST 550
This course, focused on the computational aspects of medical imaging, will be
Medical Image Analysis
developed and taught by a team of faculty drawn from HST, MIT EECS, and HMS
that participate in the local laboratories currently pursuing research and
development of medical image analysis. The class will have a strong
computational laboratory component in which the students will solve application
problems using tools that are in common usage in the field. The course will focus
on the major areas of medical image post-processing, including techniques for
modeling, quantification, surgical planning and the analysis of functional
information. It will develop those areas of statistics, including biostatistics, that
are germane to medical image analysis, including estimation, the theory of linear
models, hypothesis testing, issues arising from small samples, calculation of
confidence and power, and statistical parametric mapping.
Topics from
advanced linear systems will be covered, specifically the analysis of diffusion
tensor MRI. The major application areas of segmentation and registration will be
covered with respect the analysis of MRI, CT, XRAY, PET, SPECT, fMRI, EEG,
MEG, and electrocorticography. (Wells/Fischl/Brown)
HST 210
Clinical Applications of
Neuroimaging
This one month course will occur during the Winter IAP (Inter-Academic Period)
session. The course will be taught from a clinical case based perspective and will
include field trips to observe clinical imaging. Topics to be covered include
clinical service imaging (e.g. DWI for stroke diagnosis, prognosis, treatment
response), neurosurgical applications such as Image-guided Therapy and Imageguided Surgery. The course will also cover state of the art imaging for: Pain
Disorders,
Tumors,
Epilepsy,
Dementia
(Alzheimer’s,
Parkinson’s),
Schizophrenia, Depression, Anxiety Disorders, Substance Abuse, and Presurgical planning. A module covering ethical issues in imaging will be included
that deals with special populations: children, elderly, psychiatrically impaired.
(Wright)
HST 584J
Magnetic Resonance
Imaging Techniques
Introduction to basic NMR theory. Theory of NMR spectroscopy, biological and
biomedical applications of in vivo NMR spectroscopy, including spectroscopic
localization techniques. Theory and practical applications of NMR relaxation
measurements are also described. Detailed study of NMR imaging techniques
includes discussions of basic cross-sectional image reconstruction, image
contrast, flow and real-time imaging, and hardware design considerations.
(Rosen with lectures by Jenkins/Wald)
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HST 582J
Biomedical Signal and Image
Processing
Fundamentals of digital signal processing with particular emphasis on problems
in biomedical research and clinical medicine. Basic principles and algorithms for
data acquisition, imaging, filtering and feature extraction. Laboratory projects
provide practical experience in processing physiological data, with examples from
neurophysiology, cardiology, speech processing, and medical imaging. Course
director Julie Greenberg is incorporating educational tools in conjunction with her
work with the VaNTH ERC. (Greenberg/Wells)
HST 583J
Functional
MRI:
Data
Acquisition and Analysis.
This team taught, multidisciplinary course covers the fundamentals of magnetic
resonance imaging relevant to the conduct and interpretation of human brain
mapping studies. The course provides in depth coverage of the physics of image
formation, mechanisms of image contrast, and the physiological basis for image
signals. Parenchymal and cerebrovascular neuroanatomy and application of
sophisticated sturctural analysis algorithms for segmentation and registration of
functional data are discussed. Additional topics include fMRI experimental design
including block design, event related and exploratory data analysis methods,
building and applying statistical models for fMRI data. Human subjects issues
including informed consent, institutional review board requirements and safety in
the high field environment are also taught. The course uses many formats to
most efficiently convey the most important principles. Weekly lectures are
followed by laboratory and/or discussion sessions. Laboratory sessions include
both fMRI data acquisition sessions and data analysis workshops. (Team taught.
Course Director- Gollub, Faculty- Melcher/Wald/Fischl/Buckner/Banzett/ Brown)
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