2 Postdoc positions using DTI to study: Deep brain stimulation for OCD, or postnatal development.

Postdoctoral positions are available to use nonhuman-primate tracing studies in combination with DTI in human and nonhuman primates to investigate: 1. Postnatal development of prefrontal cortical pathways; and 2. Pathways that pass through deep brain stimulation electrodes for obsessive-compulsive disorder. 

The first set of experiments is designed to delineate changes during postnatal development in prefrontal cortical white matter bundles and in the organization of their terminal fields.  Specific focus is on dorsal prefrontal cortex, the anterior cingulate, and orbital cortex.  Experiments sample 5 specific postnatal time points that correspond to milestones in social and cognitive development.  The approach is to use traditional experimental circuitry techniques in combination with state of the art imaging methods such as DTI to explore changes in the integrity of white matter bundles and terminals in the same animals.   

The second set of studies is to use a database of tracing experiments in nonhuman primates and probabilistic maps of fiber trajectories based on those experiments to delineate the specific connections likely associated with different electrode contacts in DBS patients with OCD.  These data will form the basis for interpreting results from DTI of specific white matter bundles that pass through electrode contacts in implanted patients.  The WM fibers are then related with clinical outcomes in each DBS patient to determine the relationship between specific connections associated with effective treatments.  These studies are part of a large Center focused on mechanisms underlying the effectiveness of DBS for OCD.

Applicants should submit a summary of research interests, a curriculum vitae and names of three references to:  Dr. Suzanne Haber, Department of Pharmacology and Physiology: Email: [log in to unmask] (AA/EOE).