Neurobehavioral Technologies Research

Current projects and developing areas of investigation include:

  • Measuring levels of excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain using specialized magnetic resonance imaging techniques, and examining how these neurotransmitter levels are connected to social cognition in autism spectrum disorder. (PI: Cochran)
  • Evaluating the effect of a medication, gabapentin, on excitatory and inhibitory neurotransmitters in the brain of individuals with autism spectrum disorder. (PI: Cochran)
  • Using electroencephalography (EEG) and functional near-infrared spectroscopy to characterize deficits in social engagement in autism spectrum disorders to more accurately assess ASD and to develop improved behavioral therapy methods. (PI: Modarres)
  • Applied virtual reality, augmented reality and 3D gaming to understand and assist individuals with autism spectrum disorders, families and care providers with daily living, learning, empathy, and other areas. (PI: LeMoine)
  • Neurobehavioral Evaluation of Schizophrenia
    We employ neurocognitive measures of frontal lobe function to evaluate individual differences among individuals with IDD. These provide the basis to characterize neurobehavioral functional levels among individuals and within psychiatric diagnostic groups. (Curtis Deutsch)
  • Investigating Shared Neurobiological Mechanisms of Autism and Schizophrenia
    We study developmental biological measures among individuals with IDD, in order to determine which characteristics are distinctive to specific diagnoses and which are shared by differing psychiatric diagnoses. (Curtis Deutsch)
  • Objective Diagnosis of Developmental Variation in Chromosomal Syndromes
    This initiative focuses on developmental abnormalities within IDD. A number of IDD genetic disorders are characterized by distinctive features of the head and face; a common example is Down syndrome (trisomy of chromosome 21). To provide quantitative identification of these features, we have been developing 3D imaging methods to identify these features objectively and reliably. (Curtis Deutsch)