Funding is requested to advance the research career of the Candidate, Dr. Paul K. Maciejewski. The overall aim of the project is to establish the Candidate, whose prior formal training has been in mechanical engineering and statistics, as an independent investigator in the areas of neurophysiology and brain functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). The research career development plan consists of education/training and research components. Education in neurophysiology will be obtained primarily through courses offered in the Graduate Program in Neurobiology in the Yale University School of Medicine. Training in magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and metabolic modeling will be obtained primarily through training provided by experienced researchers at the Yale University Magnetic Resonance Center for Research in Metabolism & Physiology. Education and training in the ethical use of animals in research will be obtained primarily through the Yale Animal Resources Center. The research plan has three Specific Aims. These are: 1) Developing a 13C MRS method for measuring dynamic changes in cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption, 2) obtaining dynamic, multi-modal measurements of functional activation in a rat model, and 3) developing a neurovascular model of blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) signal and functional activation.
The Aims of the research plan will be achieved through applications and extensions of MRS, metabolic modeling, fMRI, electrophysiological measurements, and dynamic modeling. The outcomes of this basic research are expected to be relevant to diagnostic evaluation in neurology and psychiatry.
