Julia Scott

Technology can translocate traditional art into interactive, immersive experiences. At the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the authors transformed Tibetan Buddhist mandalas into a 3D virtual reality mandala installation. Furthering this project, they externalized an analog of the meditative experience by recording electroencephalograms that dynamically modulated the visual scene. The use of neurofeedback allowed fluctuations in the alpha power to drive the intensity of the fog obscuring the… Show more

Technology can translocate traditional art into interactive, immersive experiences. At the Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, the authors transformed Tibetan Buddhist mandalas into a 3D virtual reality mandala installation. Furthering this project, they externalized an analog of the meditative experience by recording electroencephalograms that dynamically modulated the visual scene. The use of neurofeedback allowed fluctuations in the alpha power to drive the intensity of the fog obscuring the mandala. This aimed to give a sense of clearing the fog with one’s mind in a meditation-like state. The collaboration demonstrated how technology intended for scientific use may be adapted to an artistic installation that enriches the visitor experience. Show less

The human cortex contains inhibitory interneurons derived from the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE), a germinal zone in the embryonic ventral forebrain. How this germinal zone generates sufficient interneurons for the human brain remains unclear. We found that the human MGE (hMGE) contains nests of proliferative neuroblasts with ultrastructural and transcriptomic features that distinguish them from other progenitors in the hMGE. When dissociated hMGE cells are transplanted into the neonatal… Show more

The human cortex contains inhibitory interneurons derived from the medial ganglionic eminence (MGE), a germinal zone in the embryonic ventral forebrain. How this germinal zone generates sufficient interneurons for the human brain remains unclear. We found that the human MGE (hMGE) contains nests of proliferative neuroblasts with ultrastructural and transcriptomic features that distinguish them from other progenitors in the hMGE. When dissociated hMGE cells are transplanted into the neonatal mouse brain, they reform into nests containing proliferating neuroblasts that generate young neurons that migrate extensively into the mouse forebrain and mature into different subtypes of functional interneurons. Together, these results indicate that the nest organization and sustained proliferation of neuroblasts in the hMGE provide a mechanism for the extended production of interneurons for the human forebrain. Show less

This study describes an image analysis framework for the detection of folding patterns in the human fetal brain. We were able to determine when primary sucli began to emerge by changes in the surface curvature of the cortex. Our timing more closely matched histological studies of the subject than previous 2D MRI studies of sulcogenesis.

Human fetal brain tissue volumes were automatically estimated from in utero 3D MRI using a probabilistic spatiotemporal segmentation atlas. We demonstrated acceleration in total cerebral growth between 20 and 30 gestational weeks. The cortical plate was the fastest growing tissue zone.We did not yet detect brain sexual dimorphisms nor hemispheric asymmetries before 30 gestational weeks.

The cerebellum has been suspect in the eitology of autism. Here we measured the volume of the cerebellum and substructures in a diverse cohort of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The only difference found between ASD groups and controls was a reduced area of the vermis in high functioning children. Alteration in cerebellar size did not stand out as a biomarker specific to ASD.