The focus of my laboratory (http://eon.wustl.edu) is on the dynamic neural network re-configurations that occur as the brain changes its state under both normal conditions such as sleep, and in abnormal conditions such as induced shifts in conscious awareness (anesthesia) or pathological shifts in cognitive awareness (fluctuating consciousness, sleep parasomnias and neurodegenerative disease states). We have developed the use of simultaneous acquisition of electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to help us better understand these shifts in network connectivity and function as the brain shifts state over the course of 24 hours. We have extended our neuroimaging (fMRI) data to examine changes in large-scale functional brain network connectivity with neural state using graph theoretical techniques. As part of the Human Connectome Project, my laboratory worked with a large international team to define the time-varying connection patterns in over 1200 normal adult human subjects (http://www.humanconnectome.org). The laboratory maintains extensive collaborations with other research teams interested in the use of functional network methods in EEG, MEG, fMRI and EEG/fMRI to examine brain dynamics in both health and disease.
Linda Larson-Prior, Ph.D.
Professor