Investigators
Shelby Baez
Ph.D., ATC, Rehabilitation Sciences, 2019
Assistant Professor of Kinesiology
517-353-6689
baezshel@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Understanding neural mechanisms of maladaptive psychological responses and behavioral interventions after traumatic knee injury.
On-going Imaging Projects:
Use of fMRI to examine the efficacy of mindfulness meditation for patients after anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction.
Andrew Bender
Ph.D., Psychology, 2014
Assistant Professor of Epidemiology and Neurology
517-884-7606
bender@epi.msu.edu
Research Interests:
Cognitive neuroscience of normal aging and age-associated cognitive impairment neurodegenerative diseases.
On-going Imaging Projects:
High resolution imaging for hippocampal subfield volumetry, longitudinal DTI in lifespan development.
Jan Brascamp
Ph.D., Neurobiology, 2008
Assistant Professor of Psychology
brascamp@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Visual perception, attention, awareness, perceptual ambiguity
On-going Imaging Projects:
BOLD responses in visual cortex and in fronto-parietal attention networks during endogenous changes in the perception of ambiguous input. BOLD correlates of repetition priming in visual search.
Soo-Eun Chang
Ph.D. Speech and Hearing Science, 2005
Associate Professor of Psychiatry (University of Michigan) and Adjunct faculty member in Communicative Sciences and Disorders (MSU)
517-432-1264
schang7@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Neural bases of speech perception and production, neurophysiological bases of developmental stuttering
On-going Imaging Projects:
Functional (fMRI) and structural connectivity (DTI probabilistic tractography) of auditory- motor regions for speech production in normally fluent and stuttering speakers
Natoshia R. Cunningham
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, 2011
Assistant Professor, Department of Family Medicine
616-234-2821
natoshia@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Neural mechanisms of pediatric pain; psychological management of pain in youth with chronic health conditions.
On-going Imaging Projects:
Neural mechanisms of response to a psychological intervention for managing pain and anxiety in youth with functional abdominal pain disorders.
James H. Dulebohn
Ph.D., University of Illinois, 1995
Professor of Human Resource Management
517-432-3984
dulebohn@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Neural processes involved in decision-making, fairness evaluation, and discrimination.
On-going Imaging Projects:
Biological bases of obesity discrimination. Using fMRI to understand the automatic processes involved in negative weight-related attitudes and weight-based discrimination.
Kimberly Fenn
Ph.D., Psychology, 2006
Associate Professor of Psychology
517-432-6258
kfenn@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Acquisition and consolidation of memory and skill learning, attention in learning and auditory perception, complex syntactical rule learning.
On-going Imaging Projects:
Forgetting, retention, synaptic pruning
Jodene Fine
Ph.D., Educational Psychology, 2006
Associate Professor of Counseling
517-353-9604
finej@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Neuroimaging and dyslexia, latent factor analysis of intelligence tests, and gender differences in developmental disorders.
On-going Imaging Projects:
ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders.
Jie Huang
Ph.D., Physics, 1994
Professor of Radiology
517-884-3246
jie@rad.msu.edu
Research Interests:
Visual masking, visual stress, migraine, and their prevention with precision spectral filters; language processing.
On-going Imaging Projects:
Improving white-matter fiber tracking.
Tongtong Li
Ph.D., Electrical and Computer Engineering, 2000
Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering
517-355-7688
tongli@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Computational neuroscience, esp. brain activity modeling and analysis using communication theory.
On-going Imaging Projects:
Brain connectivity and causality analysis, quantitative characterization of brain information processing capacity and storage capacity, research on the effect of various exercises on Alzheimer's disease.
Taosheng Liu
Ph.D., Cognitive Psychology, 2001
Associate Professor of Psychology
517-432-6694
tsliu@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Perception and attention, visual psychophysics, attentional control, object recognition, functional neuroimaging.
J. Devin McAuley
PhD, Indiana University, Cognitive Science and Computer Science, 1995.
Professor of Psychology
Director, MSU Cognitive Science Program
517-363-9069
dmcauley@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Auditory perception, attention, and cognition, timing and rhythm, relationship between music and language processing, mathematical modeling, and neuroimaging.
On-going Imaging Projects:
Neural mechanisms of timing and temporal processing, congenital amusia.
Dar Meshi
Ph.D., Biological Sciences, Columbia University, 2006
Assistant Professor of Advertising and Public Relations
517-355-1282
darmeshi@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Neural processing of social information, social media use, decision making, social influence
On-going Imaging Projects:
Investigating how social reward processing is related to social media use. Understanding excessive social media use. Investigating the value of sharing prosocial information.
Matthew B. Pontifex
Ph.D., Kinesiology, 2011
Associate Professor of Kinesiology
517-432-5105
pontifex@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Behavioral and Neuroimaging investigations of the relation between physical health and cognitive control during maturation.
On-going Imaging Projects:
Neural mechanisms underlying the effects of physical activity on cognition in children
Chunqi Qian
Ph.D., Physical Chemistry, 2007
Assistant Professor of Radiology
517-884-3292
qianchu1@msu.edu
Research Interests:
MR imaging detection technology, Radio frequency engineering, vascular plaque imaging, molecular imaging.
On-going Imaging Projects:
(1) Development of wireless MR detector, (2) Vascular plaque imaging, (3) Molecular imaging of atherosclerosis.
Susan Ravizza
Ph.D., Psychology, 2000
Professor of Psychology
517-432-3366
ravizzas@msu.edu
Research Interests:
fMRI, behavioral, and neuropsychological studies of cognitive control, working memory, and motor coordination.
On-going Imaging Projects:
The role of the left temporal parietal region in stimulus-driven attention and verbal working memory, and control processes in task switching.
Lyudmila Sakhanenko
Ph.D., Statistics, 2002
Professor of Statistics and Probability
517-432-9795
sakhanen@msu.edu
Research Interests:
High-dimensional probability and statistics; nonparametric statistics, functional data analysis, statistical analysis of DTI.
On-going Imaging Projects:
Longitudinal modeling of the structural integrity of the axonal fibers; modeling and assessment of uncertainty for DTI.
Norman Scheel
Dr. rer. nat. (Ph.D.) in Computational Neuroscience, 2017
Dipl.-Inf. (M.Sc.) in Computer Science and Medical Informatics, 2011
Research Associate in Radiology
517-884-8257
scheelno@msu.edu
https://twitter.com/enorms
Research Interests:
I am investigating the use of multimodal MRI and PET data for computational modeling of aging processes in the human brain. My goal is to integrate diverse functional as well as structural MRI and PET sequences, to find imaging-derived phenotypes (IDPs) that can describe the transition from healthy to diseased brain states to facilitate early diagnosis.
On-going Imaging Projects:
Evaluation of data-driven methods to remove noises and artifacts from high-dimensional imaging data. Establishing subspace entropy as a promising new IDP derived from functional resting-state MRI. Using machine learning approaches on diverse IDPs to predict health outcomes for patients suffering from or are at risk of developing Alzheimer's Disease. Furthermore, I am studying the effects of cardiac health parameters and hypertension on functional and structural brain health.
Ralf Schmaelzle
Ph.D., Psychology, University of Konstanz, Germany, 2009
Assistant Professor of Communication Theory
517-353-6629
schmaelz@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Mass communication about health/risk; Real-world neuroimaging; Brain network dynamics
On-going Imaging Projects:
Recent work involves measuring neural responses to health and media messages and asking how similarly these are processed across the brains of audience members.
Jill Slade
Ph.D, Exercise Physiology, 2003
Associate Professor of Radiology
517-884-3351
sladeji@radiology.msu.edu
Research Interests:
Muscle function, muscle metabolism, peripheral vascular health, lifestyle effects on health and aging
On-going Imaging Projects:
Investigation of statins on skeletal muscle function and integrity, effect of Type I diabetes on bone marrow adiposity,
effect of diet and exercise on cognition in aging, gut-brain axis in appetite
regulation
Laura Symonds
Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania, 1982
Associate Professor of Neuroscience
517-432-2203
symonds@msu.edu
Katy Thakkar
Ph.D., Psychology, 2012
Associate Professor of Psychology
517-884-8489
kthakkar@msu.edu
Research Interests:
Biological basis of psychotic disorders
On-going Imaging Projects:
Using fMRI and DTI to understand brain network abnormalities in schizophrenia; Using MRS to measure abnormal brain metabolite levels in individuals with schizophrenia and first-degree relatives
David Zhu
Ph.D., Biomedical Engineering, 1999
Professor of Radiology, Psychology, Electrical & Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering
517-884-3345
zhuda@msu.edu
Research Interests:
MR imaging technique development, functional MRI applications, concussion, carotid plaque imaging, normal and abnormal aging, and molecular imaging.
On-going Imaging Projects:
MRI technique development. Use neuroimaging to understand mild traumatic brain injury, normal aging, Alzheimer's disease (AD), AD risk reduction, and effects of hypertension on the brain.