Led by Caterina Stamoulis, PhD, our laboratory studies typical and atypical brain development using Big Data and cutting-edge analytical tools. We develop novel signal/image processing, mathematical and statistical approaches, and integrate them with large-scale brain data, with the goal to characterize a) normative developmental trajectories of human neural circuits and their topological and dynamic properties, and b) neuromodulatory effects of neurological disorders (with a focus on epilepsy) on brain development. Research in our laboratory is at the intersection of neuroscience, data science and biomedical engineering, and aims to address fundamental questions in cognitive and systems neuroscience.
We are specifically interested in the development of human brain circuits (the connectome) from infancy to young adulthood. The overarching goal of our work is to characterize the maturation and (re)organization of brain circuits that support increasingly complex cognitive skills and efficient processing of the outside world. In the last few years our work has focused on the adolescent brain, and multidomain individual, environmental and experiential protective and risk factors that shape its developing circuitry. In parallel, our laboratory continues its long-standing work in pediatric epilepsy, with the goal to elucidate multi-system changes associated with seizure generation. More recently our work has also taken new directions, focusing on the impact of sleep on the developing connectome.
The laboratory's work is highly cross-disciplinary and involves collaborations with clinicians, engineers, and computer scientists. It is supported by multiple programs at the National Science Foundation, and the National Institutes of Health.
