Luis Hernandez-Garcia, PhD
1096 BIRB
2360 Bonisteel St.
  Ann Arbor, MI 48109-2108
 Phone: (734) 763 9254
 Fax:   (734) 936 4218
Research Associate Professor
Biomedical Engineering
and MRI Research Facility
University of Michigan


MY RESEARCH

My research interests are focused on developing and integrating techniques for the study of brain function.  

I have been involved in BOLD (Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent) and ASL (Arterial Spin Labeling) Functional MRI research for a number of years.  Primarily, I have been developing ASL methods for quantitatively imaging cerebral perfusion.  Perfusion is an indicator of brain function and therefore a very valuable tool, not just for the clinician, but also for the neuroscientist and psychologist.  I am currently working on kinetic models for quantifying the ASL signal, and techniques that will improve the SNR and temporal resolution of perfusion measurements.

I am very interested in the properties of the BOLD signal and extracting as much information as possible from them.  I am interested in the non-linear temporal characteristics of the vascular response to neuronal activations, and I’m working on mathematical models of the BOLD response in terms of the underlying physiology.  I am also interested in using the statistical properties of the BOLD signal to extract information about the hierarchical relationships between active brain regions.

I was introduced to TMS (Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation) a number of years ago and I am again becoming involved with that area of research.  I am currently working on methods for modeling the electromagnetic fields produced by TMS devices within the brain and improving the targeting and penetration capability of TMS devices.

I have also collaborated tightly with research groups in psychology and neurology in the study of attention and pain.  I am currently studying the temporal characteristics of the BOLD responses to painful stimuli, and measuring perfusion differences in key pain-related brain regions of subjects with pathological pain conditions, such as fibromyalgia.

(April 2005)