Title: Models for the brain cortex neuro-vascular response: circuits and random graphs

Speaker: Peter C. Doerschuk, Cornell University

Date/Time: Monday, January 17, 2011, 2:00 pm       

Location: CSRI Building/Room 90 (Sandia NM)

Brief Abstract: Collaborators have developed an experimental apparatus and protocol for recording optical video reflectance spectroscopy data at 570nm and 610nm for the study of the neuro vascular system in epilepsy and other brain disorders both perioperatively in human patients and in rodents.  The basic output is video (10 frames/second, 768x480 pixels/frame, 11.7x14.6 microns/pixel) of the optical reflectance at 570nm and 610nm from which the amount of oxygenated and deoxygenated hemoglobin in each pixel can be calculated.  Therefore these invasive measurements in 2-D are higher spatial- and temporal-resolution analogs of the noninvasive measurements made in 3-D in the BOLD effect in fMRI.  To quantitatively describe the temporal and spatial connections between the electrical and vascular activity of the cortex, a multi-layer layer electrical circuit model has been developed.  A key challenge has been the topology of the vascular network which has lead to current work on random graph descriptions of the network.

This work, funded by Sandia National Laboratories, is a collaboration with Mr. Nathan Cornelius (Cornell BME PhD student), Dr. Theodore Schwartz (Weill Cornell Medical College), and Dr. Minah Suh (previously Weill Cornell Medical College and now Sungkyunkwan University, Korea)

CSRI POC: Carl Diegert, 505-845-7193