Pint of Postdoc Speaker Recap - Dr. Sara Sanchez-Alonso

“Characterizing Neural and Behavioral Changes in Early Language Development”

Dr. Sara Sanchez-Alonso

Edited by:

Jennifer Blackburn (assisted by Aileen Fernandez)

Abstract:

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is a non-invasive and portable brain imaging technology that can be used to study brain function in human infants, in both typically developing and clinical populations. Due to its portability and lower sensitivity to motion, fNIRS is also a promising methodology to study hemodynamic correlates of brain function in real-world naturalistic environments. It is however is unclear to what extent fNIRS signals relate to BOLD fMRI, which has become a “gold standard” for studies brain function in the adult brain. Partly, this is due to the challenges of collecting fNIRS data in the scanner environment, which limits the comparison of the two methodologies. 

For the January 2021 Pint of Postdoc series, Sara Sanchez-Alonso gave an overview of the methods, specific aims, and progress of ongoing data collection for a simultaneous fMRI and fNIRS study currently being conducted at the Brain Imaging Center.