The Mind Research Network (MRN) will sponsor a talk on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 11:45 am by Jeffrey David Lewine in MRN’s Large Conference Room at Pete and Nancy Domenici Hall on the UNM North Campus.
Lewine is the executive director of the Illinois MEG Center and Executive Director of Alexian Brothers Center for Brain Research. The title of his talk is “On the Utility of MEG in Translation Neuroscience: From Autism to Traumatic Brain Injury.”
Magnetoencephalography [MEG] continues to emerge as a powerful tool in translational neuroscience, especially when used in combination with other imaging modalities. Two major healthcare areas where MEG may be especially valuable are in the assessment of children with autism spectrum disorders and the assessment of the 'Invisible" wounds of war -- mild traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder, and depression.
New estimates suggest that as many as 1 in 100 children show some features of autism. This talk will summarize NIH and philanthropic funded investigations of the inter-relationships between abnormalities in auditory processing and epileptiform activity with respect to specific profiles of language dysfunction in autism. Data will demonstrate how MEG aids in the identification of biological sub-types and how such information may be of value in guiding treatment strategies.
The Rand Corporation estimates that nearly 25 percent of the more than two million servicemen and women that have been deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom may have mild TBI, Depression, and/or PTSD. Differential diagnosis of these conditions can be critical for implementation of the best treatment strategies. Especially important is knowledge of when TBI is co-morbid with PTSD or Depression, because this can have a major impact on pharmacological strategies.
Data will be summarized showing that through analyses of spontaneous and evoked MEG/EEG responses, and the combination of these electrophysiological data with data from DTI and MRS measures of callosal integrity, differential diagnosis may be possible.
The talk is free and the public is welcome.
Media Contact: Karen Wentworth, (505) 277-5627; e-mail: kwent2@unm.edu