Hurvitz Brain Sciences Program

Administrative Assistant: Lorelie Lacson
Phone: 416-480-4293
Email: lorelie.lacson@sunnybrook.ca

Education:

• B.Sc., 1994, electrical engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
• M.Sc., 1996, electrical engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan
• PhD, 2004, electrical and medical engineering, Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, U.S.

Appointments and Affiliations:

• Senior scientist, Physical Sciences, Hurvitz Brain Sciences Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Professor, department of medical biophysics, University of Toronto

Research Foci:

• MRI
• Electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography
• Connectivity analysis

Research Summary:

Complex behaviour and cognitive functions of the human brain are thought to be mapped at the level of multifocal neural systems rather than specific anatomical sites, giving rise to brain-behaviour relationships that are both localized and distributed. Further understanding of these brain mechanisms requires structural and functional knowledge to answer the following questions:

• Where are the foci of activity?
• When are these areas activated and what is the temporal sequence of activation?
• How does the information flow in large-scale neural networks during the execution of cognitive and behavioural tasks?

Noninvasive medical imaging tools are able to localize brain activities at high spatial and temporal resolution. Quantitative modeling to interpret these data can suggest how distributed neuronal interactions underlying perception, cognition and behaviour emerge and change over time.

Our lab focuses on the development and application of noninvasive human neuroimaging methods, including hardware development, data analysis and mathematical modeling. In particular, we are interested in MRI, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, electroencephalography and magnetoencephalography, and noninvasive stimulation methods like transcranial magnetic stimulation. These efforts are geared toward improving our understanding of brain function and dysfunction. Current research projects aim at improving the sensitivity and spatiotemporal resolution of brain imaging in individual and combined modalities. In addition, we are investigating mathematical approaches for identifying large-scale neural networks and their correlation to behaviour.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

1. Feature-dependent intrinsic functional connectivity across cortical depths in the human auditory cortex. Wu PY, Chu YH, Lin JL, Kuo WJ, Lin FH. Sci Rep.2018 Sep 5; 8(1):13287. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-31292-x.
2. Relative latency and temporal variability of hemodynamic responses at the human primary visual cortex. Lin FH, Polimeni JR, Lin JL, Tsai KW, Chu YH, Wu PY, Li YT, Hsu YC, Tsai SY, Kuo WJ. 2018 Jan 1;164:194–201. DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2017.01.041.
3. Simultaneous multi-slice inverse imaging of the human brain. Hsu YC, Chu YH, Tsai SY, Kuo WJ, Chang CY, Lin FH. Sci Rep.2017 Dec 5;7(1):17019. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-16976-0.
4. Decoupled dynamic magnetic field measurements improves diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images. Chu YH, Hsu YC, Lin FH. Sci Rep.2017 Sep 14;7(1):11630. DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-11138-8.
5. Brain hemodynamic activity during viewing and re-viewing of comedy movies explained by experienced humor. Jääskeläinen IP, Pajula J, Tohka J, Lee HJ, Kuo WJ, Lin FH. Sci Rep. 2016 Jun 21;6:27741. DOI:10.1038/srep27741.

Related Links:

• Multimodal brain imaging and modeling group
• U of T profile, department of medical biophysics