University of Alberta, Edmonton

6 ARTICLES PUBLISHED IN JoVE

Neuroscience

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Observing Virtual Social Interactions

Keen Sung¹, Sanda Dolcos², Sophie Flor-Henry³, Crystal Zhou³, Claudia Gasior⁴, Jennifer Argo⁵, Florin Dolcos^2,6,7

¹Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta, ²Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, ³Centre for Neuroscience, University of Alberta, ⁴Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, ⁵Department of Marketing, Business Economics, and Law, University of Alberta, ⁶Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, ⁷Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

This article demonstrates an experimental design in which whole-body animated characters are used in conjunction with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to investigate the neural correlates of observing virtual social interactions.

Neuroscience

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotional Autobiographical Recollection

Ekaterina Denkova¹, Trisha Chakrabarty¹, Sanda Dolcos^1,2, Florin Dolcos^1,2,3,4

¹Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, ²Psychology Department, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, ³Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, ⁴Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

We present a protocol that allows investigation of the neural correlates of recollecting emotional autobiographical memories, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This protocol can be used with both healthy and clinical participants.

Neuroscience

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Neural Correlates of Emotion Regulation

Sanda Dolcos¹, Keen Sung², Ekaterina Denkova³, Roger A. Dixon^4,5, Florin Dolcos^1,6,7

¹Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, ²Department of Computing Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, ³Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, Edmonton, ⁴Department of Psychology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, ⁵Centre for Neuroscience, University of Alberta, Edmonton, ⁶Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, ⁷Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

We present a protocol that allows investigation of the neural correlates of deliberate and automatic emotion regulation, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This protocol can be used in healthy participants, both young and older, as well as in clinical patients.

Neuroscience

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Memory-Enhancing Effect of Emotion

Andrea Shafer¹, Alexandru Iordan², Roberto Cabeza³, Florin Dolcos^1,4

¹Centre for Neuroscience, University of Alberta, ²Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, ³Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, Duke University, ⁴Psychology Department, Neuroscience Program, & Beckman Institute, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign

We present a protocol that uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to investigate the neural correlates of the memory-enhancing effect of emotion. This protocol allows identification of brain activity specifically linked to memory-related processing, contrary to more general perceptual processing, and can be used with healthy and clinical populations.

Neuroscience

Brain Imaging Investigation of the Impairing Effect of Emotion on Cognition

Gloria Wong^1,2, Sanda Dolcos^1,3, Ekaterina Denkova¹, Rajendra Morey^4,5,6, Lihong Wang^4,5, Gregory McCarthy^6,7, Florin Dolcos^1,2,3,8,9

¹Department of Psychiatry, University of Alberta, ²Centre for Neuroscience, University of Alberta, ³Department of Psychology, University of Illinois, ⁴Brain Imaging and Analysis Center, Duke University , ⁵Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Duke University , ⁶Mid-Atlantic Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center, VA Medical Center, ⁷Department of Psychology, Yale University, ⁸Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois, ⁹Beckman Institute for Advanced Science & Technology, University of Illinois

We present a protocol that allows investigation of the neural mechanisms mediating the detrimental impact of emotion on cognition, using functional magnetic resonance imaging. This protocol can be used with both healthy and clinical participants.

Neuroscience

A Comprehensive Protocol for Manual Segmentation of the Medial Temporal Lobe Structures

Matthew Moore^*1, Yifan Hu^*1, Sarah Woo¹, Dylan O'Hearn¹, Alexandru D. Iordan^2,3, Sanda Dolcos¹, Florin Dolcos^1,2,3

¹Psychology Department, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, ²Neuroscience Program, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, ³Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The present work provides a comprehensive set of guidelines for manually tracing the medial temporal lobe (MTL) structures. This protocol can be applied to research involving structural and/or combined structural-functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) investigations of the MTL, in both healthy and clinical groups.