Integrating Multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study vision and language at New York University Abu DhabiNew York University Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

Coordinated by Osama Abdullah on behalf of NYUAD’s brain imaging researchers|2019-05-01

Over the last year, several research studies have emerged from New York University, Abu Dhabi that partially or exclusively relied on the Siemens MRI Scanner MAGNETOM Prisma 3T. Here, we present three studies focusing on vision and language processing in the human brain.

Figure 1:
The fMRI-generated maps in V1 were used in turn to classify specific white matter bundles in the OR (LGN to V1)
according to their terminating points in V1, which provided white matter retinotopic dissection of the visual field.

Figure 2:
Shows the white matter OR bundle color coded with eccentricity, polar angle, and with combined polar and eccentricity measurements discretized to 8 locations in the visual field. Retinotopic-based color-coding of the OR bundle shows that the ventral-anterior bundle (or the Meyer’s loop) carries the upper peripheral visual quadrant information, whereas the dorsal bundle carries the the lower peripheral quadrant information, and the central bundle of the OR carries the information from central visual field.The combination of fMRI and dMRI to assign specific functional roles to white matter tracts represents a potentially valuable tool both for basic science and as a guide for neurosurgeries conducted under general anesthesia.

Figure 4:
Shows recordings of resting state (i), Arabic /t/ "ت" (ii), Arabic /t / "ط" (iii), Arabic /k/ "ك" (iv), and Arabic /q/ "ق" (v). Visible in (i) is a resting state with the locations of speech articulators: lips, teeth, alveolar ridge, palate, velum, uvula, tongue, pharynx, and vocal folds. The following four images demonstrate the production of the four selected sounds: (ii) shows the production of the sound /t/ with a primary tongue constriction in the dento-alveolar region; (iii) shows the production of the sound /t / with both a primary tongue constriction in the dento-alveolar region and a secondary tongue constriction in the pharynx; (iv) shows the production of the sound /k/ with a primary tongue constriction in the velar region; and, (v) shows the production of the sound /q/ with a primary tongue constriction in the uvular region.

Future studies in collaboration with Siemens Healthineers and local hospitals are underway to adapt some of the advanced imaging and post-processing technologies at NYUAD to benefit the local community in the United Arab Emirates in particular and the Gulf region in general.

Integrating Multimodal Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)and Magnetoencephalography (MEG) to study vision and language at New York University Abu Dhabi
Brain Imaging Core: Osama Abdullah and Haidee Paterson