My research focuses on the neurobiological basis of language, reading, and cognition in children. Functional imaging studies demonstrate that language and reading skills require the integrated activity of a network of distributed brain regions. Diffusion magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI) documents that variations in the properties of long-range white matter pathways connecting these brain regions within the cerebrum and between the cerebrum and cerebellum are associated with variations in language and reading skills. These white matter pathways may be disturbed in childhood illnesses, such as brain tumors. We have been collecting dMRI scans on children born preterm and full term at different ages, including infancy. We also have been collecting clinical scans on children with brain tumors in the cerebellum and posterior fossa. We seek students who want to learn techniques for analyzing dMRI and related imaging methods in children and to link the neurobiological findings to clinical outcomes. Selected studies include: (1) analyzing white matter pathways in preterm infants at near term age in relation to medical and environmental variables; (2) applying spherical deconvolution to scans of children age 6 to 8 years who are learning to read; (3) evaluating longitudinal change in children with mutism after resection of a posterior fossa brain tumor.
Research Interests: