Brain imaging tools and expertise yielding
new and better
treatments
Each year, thousands of Canadians
experience brain damage caused
by traumatic injury, neurological
illness or stroke. While many of
the resulting cognitive deficits are
obvious, others are quite subtle and
can't be measured using current
neurological examinations.
Dr. Brian Levine and his colleagues
at Baycrest's Rotman Research
Institute are hoping to close that
gap. They are developing and using
novel assessment and rehabilitation techniques, coupled with
new brain imaging tools such as
structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI),
electroencephalography (EEG)
and magnetoencephalography
(MEG), a non-invasive technology
that measures the magnetic fields
generated by brain activity.
"The depth of scientific expertise,
combined with the availability of
technology at Baycrest is allowing
us to do more intricate research,"
says Dr. Levine, a senior scientist
at the Institute and a professor
in the Departments of Psychology
and Medicine (Neurology) at
the University of Toronto. "Besides
gaining a better understanding
of healthy and unhealthy brain
function, our goal is to develop
new and better interventions that
will promote recovery and hasten
rehabilitation."
Dr. Brian Levine
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