neuroimaging & Interventional Radiology - Advance functional neuroimaging centre

The advanced functional neuroimaging centre with its state of the art 3Tesla MRI machine was granted by the Department of Science and technology as a part of multi institutional initiative to understand generativity in cognitive networks. The 3T MRI together with fMRI and MR compatible EEG system was installed at NIMHANS site by the end of September 2010. The research work with fMRI commenced since then. The facility is kept functional from 8Am to 9PM and is exclusively used by researchers within and outside the institute to understand brain function better in health and in disease. More than 30 projects funded by various funding agencies are being done in his facility currently. Patient care, teaching and training, quality assurance monitoring required for this facility is performed by the department of Neuroimaging and Interventional radiology

This centre has been actively involved in functional neuroimaging research over the last 5 -6 years. In the past five years, the department has completed several funded research projects (Annexure 1) and have several ongoing projects (Annexure 2) in functional neuroimaging. Several students of DM Neuroradiology, DM Neurology, PhD clinical neurosciences, Mch Neurosurgery, MD Psychiatry training programs of the institute has done research on functional neuroimaging to understand a spectrum of neurological and behavioral disorders (Annexure 3). Establishing fMRI EEG facility, and merging signal and image processing methods is at the high point of our efforts and in the last couple of years, with the help of several research fellows, scientific officers and several national and international research collaborations we have succeeded in establishing several image processing algorithms which has resulted in several original articles (Annexure 4). We are currently involved in using machine learning methods in taking the results of our research from bench to bed side by providing subject specific answers. Apart from the work within the institute the centre have shared our expertise by conducting several onsite workshops and teaching programs both in India and in other countries, enabling them to start functional neuroimaging facilities at their respective centres (Annexure 5).  

Group Details:

This centre is led by Dr. Rose Dawn Bharath, Additional Professor, Department of Neuroimaging and Interventional Radiology.

Dr. Rose Dawn Bharath (DM, DNB, MBBS)

Additional Professor and Faculty In-charge

Research Interest: Functional Neuroimaging, Resting State and Functional Connectivity, fMRI-EEG, Cognitive Neurosciences, and Advanced Imaging in movement disorders and Epilepsy

Mr. A. Thamodharan (M.Tech. CSE)

Senior Research Fellow (ICMR), Computer Science Engineer with background in Image Processing.

He is in lead for acquisition of Research MRI, fMRI and EEG in the centre. His interest is more inclined towards the psychological and psychiatric disorders. Currently he is working in cVEDA Project.

He is the senior most lab member. He is single handedly handling the acquisition, analysis and Paradigm Designing for Clinical fMRI cases from last 8 years. He is expert in Paradigm designing in different aspects like ERP, Block design and Mixed designs in various softwares like E-prime, Superlab, Paradigm wizard and Presentation software. He is analyzing the same in various softwares like SPM, CONN, FSL, MATLAB, Philips ISP, IPlanet softwares etc. for both Clinical and Research cases in various centres (Skyra, PET MR, IO MR) of the institute. He is an excellent trouble-shooter in the MR environment.

Mr. Kiran Raj V. (M.Tech. Signal Processing, B.Tech ECE)

Junior Scientific Officer, Professional Data science engineer, with background in Digital signal processing.

He develops analytical models involving the study and analysis in the field of cognitive neuroscience. He is involved in the analysis and signal modelling in various neurocognitive disorders. His research interest is in Digital signal processing, Statistical signal modelling, machine learning, and EEG-fMRI. Currently he is working on Epilepsy EEG data and he is involved in the development of analytical model using machine learning which can identify the Epileptic patients out of neurological database.

Kiran Raj has completed various professional certifications like in “Elements in Digital Image Processing” and “MATLAB” from National Institute of Electronics and Information Technology, Jadhavpur University, Kolkata; “Introduction to Artificial Intelligence and Applications” from Centre for Continuing Education, IISc, Bengaluru and “Introduction to Machine learning in R”– Ministry of Micro Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME), Govt. of India.

Ms. Apoorva Safai (M.Tech Bio Medical Engineering, B.Tech ECE)

Junior Research Fellow (ICMR), Background in Signal and Medical Image Processing

Apoorva is interested in understanding the neural mechanisms involved in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience and to assess the effect of different interventions in related disorders.She has worked on EEG signal processing and Neuro-feedback techniques. She is particularly interested in resting state functional connectivity,brain morphometry,surface based analysis and DTI analysis. She is currently acquiring MRI data for cVEDA project and analysing it using SPM,CONN,GRETNA and other statistical softwares like R-studio and SPSS.

Mr. Aditya Jayashankar (M.Sc. Cognitive and Computational Neuroscience)

Junior Research Fellow, Background in Biotechnology and Brain Imaging

Aditya is interested in investigating neurogenic disorders affecting cognitive processing like Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Dementia. He comes from strong computational and imaging background, enabling him easy understanding of the software and related programming used in analysis. His current duties include the data-driven analysis on various data sets, such as ASD, Lobar Epilepsy, Alzheimer’s disease and Spinal cord injury. Well-versed in SPM, FSL, CONN, he has trained and continues to train occasional observers to the lab. His research interest pertains primarily to dynamic functional connectivity imaging processing and neuromodulation methodologies and their application in the development of interventions for learning and social disorders (ASD, ADHD).

Ms. Magdalene Grace (Bachelors in Occupational Therapy)

Observer

Magdalene has been rehabilitating adults and children with various neurological disorders and disabilities over the last 3 years. In the lab she has worked on Preprocessing and analysis (using SPM, FSL, ICA based denoising, CONN) of fMRI data investigating Epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease. She is currently working on functional connectivity changes in the brain in the acute stage of Spinal Cord Injury. In the long run she intends on investigating brain plasticity- long term cortical reorganization to understand the neural mechanisms that underlie debilitating conditions (such as Spinal cord injury and stroke) that encompass the field of rehabilitation science in order to develop novel intervention strategies for the same.

Alumni:

1. Dr Sandhya M (worked as Research associate in DST funded generativity in cogntive networks.Presently faculty associate professor dept of  NI&IR, NIMHANS )
2. 2. Mr. Rajanikant Panda (PhD Scholar, Coma Science Group, Universitè de Liège, Liège (Belgique))

NIMHANS Profile:

Junior Scientific Officer (2013-2017)

Research Fellow (2010-2013)

1. Dr. Ganne Chaitanya (Post-Doctoral Fellow, Department of Neurology, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, United States)

NIMHANS Profile:

PhD Clinical Neurosciences (2011-2016)

1. Dr. Venkateswara Reddy Reddam (Data-science Engineer)

NIMHANS Profile:

Research Fellow (2015-2017)

Annexure 1 . List of Research Projects completed till date

Annexure 2 –  List of ongoing Research Projects

Annexure 3. Original research articles in functional neuroimaging

1. Rose Dawn Bharath, Rajanikant Panda, Jitender Saini, Kamath Sriganesh, GS Umamaheswara Rao. “Dynamic local connectivity uncovers altered brain synchrony during propofol sedation.” Scientific Reports 2017, Vol 7, Page 8501.
2. Rose D Bharath, Rajanikant Panda, Venkateswara Reddy Reddam, MV Bhaskar, Suril Gohel, Sujas Bhardwaj, Arvind Prajapati, Pramod Kumar Pal. “A Single Session of rTMS Enhances Small-Worldness in Writer’s Cramp: Evidence from Simultaneous EEG-fMRI Multi-Modal Brain Graph.” Frontiers in human neuroscience 2017, Vol 11, Page 443.
3. Abhishek Lenka, Ketan Ramakant Jhunjhunwala, Rajanikant Panda, Jitender Saini, Rose Dawn Bharath, Ravi Yadav, Pramod Kumar Pal. “Altered brain network measures in patients with primary writing tremor.” Neuroradiology 2017, Vol 59, Issue 10, Page 1021-1029.
4. A Lenka, R Panda, L George, S Hegde, S Arumugham, J Saini, R Bharath, P Pal. “Aberrant resting state functional brain networks in patients with Parkinson’s disease and visual hallucinations.” Movement Disorders 2017 (Conference), Vol 32.
5. Holla, Bharath, Rajanikant Panda, Ganesan Venkatasubramanian, Bharat Biswal, Rose Dawn Bharath, and Vivek Benegal. “Disrupted resting brain graph measures in individuals at high risk for alcoholism.” Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging 265 (2017): 54-64.
6. Lenka, A., Bhalsing, K.S., Panda, R., Jhunjhunwala, K., Naduthota, R.M., Saini, J., Bharath, R.D., Yadav, R. and Pal, P.K., 2017. Role of altered cerebello-thalamo-cortical network in the neurobiology of essential tremor. Neuroradiology, 59(2), pp.157-168.
7. Panda R, Bharath RD, Upadhyay N, Mangalore S, Chennu S, Rao SL. Temporal Dynamics of the Default Mode Network Characterize Meditation-Induced Alterations in Consciousness. Front Hum Neurosci. 2016;10:372.
8. Bharath, R. D., S. Sinha, R. Panda, K. Raghavendra, L. George, G. Chaitanya, A. Gupta, and P. Satish chandra. “Seizure Frequency Can Alter Brain Connectivity: Evidence from Resting-State fMRI.” American Journal of Neuroradiology 36, no. 10 (2015): 1890-1898.
9. Bharath, R. D., B. B. Biswal, M. V. Bhaskar, S. Gohel, K. Jhunjhunwala, R. Panda, L. George, A. K. Gupta, and P. K. Pal. “Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation induced modulations of resting state motor connectivity in writer’s cramp.” European Journal of Neurology 22, no. 5 (2015): 796-e54.
10. Bharath, Rose D., Ashok Munivenkatappa, Suril Gohel, Rajanikant Panda, Jitender Saini, Jamuna Rajeswaran, Dhaval Shukla, Indira D. Bhagavatula, and Bharat B. Biswal. “Recovery of resting brain connectivity ensuing mild traumatic brain injury.” Frontiers in human neuroscience 9 (2015).
11. Lenka, Abhishek, Rajini M. Naduthota, Menka Jha, Rajanikant Panda, Arvind Prajapati, Ketan Jhunjhunwala, Jitender Saini, Ravi Yadav, Rose Dawn Bharath, and Pramod Kumar Pal. “Freezing of gait in Parkinson’s disease is associated with altered functional brain connectivity.” Parkinsonism & related disorders (2015).
12. Naduthota, R.M., Bharath, R.D., Jhunjhunwala, K., Yadav, R., Saini, J., Christopher, R. and Pal, P.K., 2017. Imaging biomarker correlates with oxidative stress in Parkinson’s disease. Neurology India, 65(2), p.263.
13. Bharath, R.D., Chaitanya, G., Panda, R., Raghavendra, K., Sinha, S., Sahoo, A., Gohel, S., Biswal, B.B. and Satishchandra, P., 2016. Reduced small world brain connectivity in probands with a family history of epilepsy. European journal of neurology, 23(12), pp.1729-1737.
14. Mohandas, A.N., Bharath, R.D., Prathyusha, P.V. and Gupta, A.K., 2014. Hippocampal volumetry: Normative data in the Indian population. Annals of Indian Academy of Neurology, 17(3), pp.267-271.
15. Panda, R., Bharath, R.D., George, L., Kanungo, S., Reddy, R.P., Upadhyay, N., Thamodharan, A., Rajeshwaran, J., Rao, S.L. and Gupta, A.K., 2014. Unraveling Brain Functional Connectivity of encoding and retrieval in the context of education. Brain and cognition, 86, pp.75-81.

Annexure 4 – Manpower training in functional neuroimaging

1. Training as research thesis

Several students of DM Neuroradiology, DM Neurology, PhD clinical neurosciences, Mch Neurosurgery, MD Psychiatry training programs of the institute has done research using the clinical data acquired from this scanner and has thus been trained in fMRI techniques and applications. The list is as follows

1. Ullas, DM: Study of functional connectivity in febrile seizures using resting state fMRI

1. Shriram Varadharajan, DM: Longitudinal brain connectivity markers in patients with acute traumatic paraparesis

1. Dr.BhaskarM.V, DM: The role of Electroencephalogram functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (EEG-fMRI) in assessing the neuro-hemodynamic changes induced by Repetitive Trans cranial Magnetic stimulation (rTMS) in patients with Writer’s Cramp

1. Dr.GanneChaitanya, PhD: Phase synchronisation and Resting state connectivity analysis using simultaneous EEG-fMRI in Localization Related Epilepsy.

1. Dr.Shreevidya, DM : Structural MRI and DTI in patient with Multiple Sclerosis

1. Dr.AbhisekLenka, PhD: Functional and Structural Imaging of Patients With Parkinson’s disease with psychosis

1. Dr.RajaniManja, PhD: Metals Imaging in The Etiopathogenesis Of Parkinsons Disease

1. Dr.Ketan Jhunjhunwala, PhD: Structural Imaging of patients with Patients with Essential Tremor, Writer’s Cramp and Primary Writing Tremor

1. Dr.Raghavendra, DM:DTI in patients with HoatWatter Epilepsy

1. Dr.Raghavendra, DM:DTI in patients with Multiple Sclerosis

1. Dr.MenakaJha, DM: Structural and DTI Imaging in Patients WithParkinson’s disease

1. Dr. Puja M, DM: Structural Imaging of Parkinson’s disease patients with and without re-emergent tremor.

1. Dr.Kethaki S. Bhalsing, DM: Association between cortical volume loss and cognitive impairments in essential tremor.

1. Dr.Ashok M, PhD: Three time point view of mild brain injuries’ structural alteration and their association with cognitive domains

1. Dr.Ketaki Patwardhan, DM: Mapping of language code switching in Multi lingual Subjectshealthy individual using functional MRI.

1. Dr.Gunal, MCh : Mapping of Language area and post-surgery plasticity in patient with left side frontal lobe Glioma using functional MRI.

1. Dr.Kisley, MCh: Resting state Functional MRI study in patient With brachial Plexus injury

1. Dr.Satyakam, MCh: Sensory Motor Network plasticity in patient With brachial Plexus Injury: Functional MRI study

1. DrMayur, Mch: Corticospinal tractography in high grade glioma

1. Dr.Sowmya, PhD, Study of Oxytocin and Neuroimaging analysis in Autism Spectrum Disorder Investigator

1. Dr.Bharath Holla, MD : Psychophysiological Interactions In Subjects At High And Low Risk For Alcoholism: An Fmri Study Involving Interference Paradigm

1. Dr. Bharath Holla, MD : “Effect Of Baclofen On Alcohol Cue-Induced Brain Activity In Severely Alcohol Dependent Individuals: A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Study”
2. Dr. Bharath Holla, MD : “Imaging-genomics approach to identify a composite cognitive endophenotype in the risk to develop Alcohol Dependence”,

1. Dr. Nitish Machewad, MD:“Vulnerability To Addiction And Creativity – A Functional Magnetic Resonance Study”, Investigator: Dr.NitishMachewad, Dept. Psychiatry

1. Dr. Ramesh Jagarapu, MD: Brain Development, Genetic Variation And Risk For Alcohol Dependence: Imaging (DTI) (White Matter) Genetics Study

1. Dr. Ramesh Jagarapu, MD: Brain Development, Genetic Variation And Risk For Alcohol Dependence: Resting state fMRI Genetics Study

1. Dr.PawanKhadse, MD:“The Effect Of Acamprosate Treatment On Cue Reactivity And Central Glutamate Activity In Recently Abstinent Alcohol Dependent Patients”

1. Dr. Pawan Khadse, MD:Comparing functional connectivity in the resting brain between subjects at high and low risk for alcoholism.

1. Dr. Rajkumari Reddy, PhD: Neural correlates of emotion: Acquisition versus innate view point

1. Dr. Rajkumari Reddy, Post Doc: Neural correlates of Empathy: functional MRI study

1. Dr. Divya Sadana, PhD: Understanding of Creativity and Bipolar Affective Disorder.

1. Dr. Mohd Afsar, PhD:Neuroimaging and neurofeed back in Trauma brain Injury
2. Dr Praveen, PD:Functional MRI correlates of temporal processing of speech in persons with auditory Dys-synchrony 

1. Dr Praveen, PD: DTI and VBM in persons with auditory Dys-synchrony  Dr Praveen Audiology and speech pathology

1. Training as Observership program

Several students from across the country visit this centre to get trained in the technical aspects of fMRI. Several Research Scientists PhD M.Tech Cognitive Sciences students , Computer Science engineers, Biomedical engineers have been trained in the fields of fMRI paradigm creation and fMRI data analysis.

One biomedical engineer has been trained in the collection and analysis of simultaneous EEG-fMRI and One Senior technician has been trained in the field of fMRI paradigm creation and implementation.

Many Mtech students are being trained during internship .

Annexure 5.

Conferences and Workshops and lectures conducted in functional neuroimaging

1. Outreach Programme for establishing fMRI2016 at Ara Damanasara Medical Centre  Malaysia

Dr. Rose Dawn Bharath and Rajanikanth Panda conducted onsite training in the Department of Radiology, Ara Damansara mediacl centre at NIMHANS on the technical aspects of image acquisition and image processing with fMRI paradigm design and fMRI data analysis using Intellispace portal from February 18th  to 22nd 2016.

1. Outreach Programme for initiating national level research 2015 on fMRI at CMC Vellore

Dr. Rose Dawn Bharath and Rajanikanth Panda. conducted onsite training in the Department of Radiology, Christian Medical college on the technical aspects of image acquisition and image processing with fMRI paradigm design and fMRI data analysis using SPM8, CONN, FSL” from August 20th  to August 24st 2015.

1. fMRI seeking new frontiers : one day CME in November 2014

1. Outreach Programme for initiating national level research 2013 on fMRI at PGI Chandigarh.

Dr. Rose Dawn Bharath and Thamodharan, A. conducted onsite training in the Department of Radiology, PGIMER , Chandigarh on the technical aspects of image acquisition and image processing with fMRI paradigm design and fMRI data analysis using SPM8, CONN, FSL” from August 12th  to August 21st 2013.

1. Meeting of brain and mind: guest lecture series August 17th 2013.

1. Advanced Image processing fMRI EEG: S loreta and Matlab March 2012.

1. Data Analysis Techniques for functional Brain mapping using MRI from August 8th to 12th -2011.

1. First national conference on neuropsychology and cognitive neurosciences Nov24th to 26th -2011.

Details

Research Activities in 2015- 2016

1. Dynamic functional connectivity uncovers altered brain synchrony during propofol sedation

1. Disrupted Resting Brain Small-Worldness Predicts Greater Externalizing Symptoms in Children of Alcoholics.

1. MRI lesion mapping in Neurocysticercosis (NCC)

1. Advanced Network Analysis of the Structural Connectome of human brain

1. DTI analysis of head bath triggering Migraine

1. Understanding the neurobiological effects of oxytocin on social trust deficits in schizophrenia multimodal imaging genetics study