Brain dynamics in neurodegenerative

Degenerative brains diseases such as Parkinson?s disease (PD), are getting more common as the population ages. Ways to assess brain diseases, so that disease progression can be predicted and effects of treatment can be measured, are important. Brain imaging technologies are widely available, but extracting the important information from brain images is still a challenge. One way to extract important information from brain images is to examine how different brain networks ?talk? to one another. We have recently developed an analysis method that determines how brain networks change over time. We believe that examining how networks change over time is a valuable new way to assess brain diseases. We will work together with a group in China, which has a large number of data sets, to improve our analysis method. The end result will be a new way to assess brain diseases that will be widely available to other groups around the world.

Faculty Supervisor:

Jane Wang

Student:

Aiping Liu

Partner:

Discipline:

Engineering - computer / electrical

Sector:

University:

University of British Columbia

Program:

Globalink Research Award