New Publications
"Uncertainty during anticipation modulates neural responses to aversion in human insula and amygdala" (Sarinopoulos et al., August 09, Cerebral Cortex). Uncertainty about potential negative future outcomes can cause great stress and is a central feature of anxiety disorders. In this fMRI study, we found that uncertainty during anticipation resulted in greater responses to aversive pictures in the insula and amygdala, key regions in responding to aversion. Anticipatory activity in the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) predicted these modulated insula and amgydala responses. In addition, ACC and insula activity predicted biased post-scan estimates of the relationship between uncertain cues and aversive pictures.
"A study of diffusion tensor imaging by tissue-specific, smoothing-compensated
voxel-based analysis" (Lee et al., January 09, NeuroImage). Voxel-based analysis (VBA) is commonly used for statistical analysis of image data, including the detection of significant signal differences between groups. Problems with typical implementations of VBA include poor tissue specificity from image misregistration and smoothing. In this study, we developed a new tissue-specific, smoothing-compensated (T-SPOON) method for the VBA of diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data with improved tissue specificity and compensation for image misregistration and smoothing.
"PET measurement of changes in D2/D3 dopamine receptor binding in a
nonhuman primate during chronic deep brain stimulation
of the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis" (Vandehey et al., January 09, Journal of Neuroscience Methods). PET imaging is a powerful tool for measuring physiological changes in the brain during deep brain stimulation (DBS). In this work, we acquired five PET scans using a highly selective D2/D3 dopamine antagonist, 18F-fallypride, to track changes in dopamine receptor availability, as measured by the distribution volume ratio (DVR), through the course of DBS in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BNST) in a nonhuman primate.
Lab in the News
November 18: U.S. News & World Reports: Try Meditation to Lower Your Blood Pressure and Protect Your Heart, Cheap, low-tech stress relief may also protect against depression, insomnia, and anxiety
November 13: University Communications: Can Meditation Sharpen our Attention?
October 23: Regina Lapate received the Graduate Student Poster award at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Society for Psychophysiological Research in Berlin, Germany for her poster entitled "The contribution of affective style to the successful downregulation of pain: A psychophysiological and neuroimaging investigation."
October 13: WPR Here on Earth: Radio Without Borders. Richard Davidson was Jean Feraca's guest. They discussed the topic of his involvement with the Mind and Life Institute’s “Educating World Citizens for the 21st Century" conference.
October 7: Calgary Herald article Meditation influences brain function.