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LCTS - Section of Brain Electrophysiology and Imaging (BEI)


Photo of Dan Hommer


Daniel Hommer, MD, Chief

Section of Brain Electrophysiology and Imaging, LCTS
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
National Institutes of Health
10 Center Drive, Room 10-CRC/1E-5330: MSC 1108
Bethesda MD 20892-1108
telephone: 301.402.6094
e-mail: dan.hommer@mail.nih.gov


Dr. Hommer serves as the laboratory chief of the Section of Brain Electrophysiology and Imaging, LCTS, NIAAA . He supervises the scientific research personnel and acts as the scientific leader for the section.


What we do

This section conducts both functional and structural brain imaging studies related to alcoholism. For functional work we primarily use functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) techniques although positron emission tomographic (PET) studies are also undertaken. Structural studies include both measurements of brain volumes using MRI as well as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI). We also use nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy to measure various brain metabolites. Recently much of our functional work has focused on emotion and motivation as they related to substance abuse. Pharmacological fMRI studies are also employed, particularly studies involving alcohol administration.


Current staff

Photo of Reza Momenan



Reza Momenan, PhD

Staff Scientist

telephone: 301.451.6972

reza.momenan@mail.nih.gov

Dr. Momenan provides research expertise and support in the areas of experimental design, imaging, and analysis to the SBEI and the Laboratory of Clinical and Translational Studies. His main focus of research is development of image processing and image analysis methods. He also conducts imaging research in both human and animal brain using various methods.

Photo of Dan Rio



Dan Rio, PhD

Physicist

telephone: 301.402.2994

dan.rio@mail.nih.gov

Dr. Rio is a physicist/mathematician who setup the original imaging facilities in this section. His current interest is developing new models for analysis of functional MRI in addition to providing support in the areas of computational mathematics, mathematical modeling, image processing and experimental design.


Photo of Beth Israel



Beth Israel

Psychologist

telephone: 301.496.7874

beth.israel@mail.nih.gov




Mike Kerich

Computer Scientist

telephone: 301.496.6540

mike.kerich@mail.nih.gov

Mike Kerich is responsible for providing programming and technical support for the imaging research as well as backing up and maintaining several large servers for imaging data. He also provides desktop support for local users.
 




Dasha Dotson
Research Assistant
telephone: 301.594.7416
dasha.dotson@mail.nih.gov





Betsy Davis

Psychology Technician

telephone: 301.435.3493

betsy.davis@mail.nih.gov


Photo of Jodi Gilman 



Jodi Gilman, PhD 

Post-Doc IRTA

telephone: 301.451.9401

gilmanj@mail.nih.gov

Dr. Gilman is studying how alcohol affects the neural correlates of emotion.  She uses functional magnetic resonance imaging to study both long-term effects of heavy alcohol consumption, as well as acute effects of alcohol administration, on the structure and function of the brain. She is also interested in using neuroimaging to assess the clinical efficacy of medications being developed for alcoholism.


Photo of Tess Crouss


Tess Crouss

Post-Bacc IRTA

telephone: 301.496.7513

crousstm@mail.nih.gov


Photo of Ashley Smith



Ashley Smith

Contractor

telephone: 301.451.6978

ashley.smith@mail.nih.gov



Lawrence Woltz, PhD

Contractor

telephone: 301.435.9376


BEI Clinical Protocols


04-AA-0060
  The Effect of Ethanol on Cerebral Blood Flow as Measured by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging and the Development of Conditioned Response to Ethanol Administration

03-AA-0013  Brain Activation in Response to Motivational and Affective Stimuli: Pharmacologist Manipulations

98-AA-0009
  Screening Evaluation for NIAAA Protocols

98-AA-0056  Functional Neuroanatomy of Positive and Negative Affect in Alcoholics and Nonalcoholics

NIAAA Clinical Protocols & link to all NIH Clinical Protocols



Selected Publications

ORIGINAL PUBLICATIONS

Gilman JM, Hommer DW. Modulation of brain response to emotional images by alcohol cues in alcohol-dependent patients. Addiction Biology, in press. PDF

Bjork JM, Momenan R, Smith A, Hommer DW. Reduced posterior mesofrontal cortex activation by risky rewards in substance-dependent patients. Alcohol and Drug Dependence. 95(1-2):115-28, 2008. PDF

Gilman JM, Ramchandani VA , Davis MB , Bjork JM and Hommer DW. Why we like to drink: An fMRI Study of the Rewarding and Anxiolytic Effects of Alcohol. Journal of Neuroscience. 28(18):4583-91, 2008. PDF

George DT, Gilman J, Hersh J, Thorsell A, Herion D, Geyer C, Peng, X, Kielbasa, W, Rawlings, R, Brandt, J, Gehlert DR, Tauscher JT, Hunt SP, Hommer D, Heilig M. Neurokinin 1 receptor antagonism as a possible therapy for alcoholism. Science. 319(5869):1536-1539, 2008. PDF

Salloum JB, Ramchandani VA, Bodurka J, Rawlings R, Momenan R, George D, Hommer DW. Blunted rostral anterior cingulate response during a simplified decoding task of negative facial expressions in alcoholic patients. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 31(9): 1490-1504, 2007. PDF

Bjork JM, Smith A, Danube C, Hommer DW. Developmental differences in posterior mesofrontal cortex recruitment by risky rewards. Journal of Neuroscience. 27(18): 4839-4849, 2007. PDF

Schottenbauer MA, Momenan R, Kerich M, Hommer DW. Relationships among aging, IQ, and intracranial volume in alcoholics and control subjects. Neuropsychology. 21(3): 337-345, 2007. PDF

Schottenbauer MA, Hommer D, Weingartner H. Memory deficits among alcoholics: Performance on a selective reminding task. Aging, Neuropsychology, and Cognition. 14(5): 505-516, 2007. PDF

Brown AK, George DT, Fujita M, Liow J, Ghose S, Sangare J, Hommer DW, Innis RB. PET [11C]DASB imaging of serotonin transporters in patients with alcoholism. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. 31(1): 28-32, 2007. PDF

Gilman JM, Bjork JM, Hommer DW. Parental alcohol use and brain volumes in early- and late-onset alcoholics. Biological Psychiatry. 62(6):607-615, 2007. PDF

Bjork JM, Hommer DW. Anticipating instrumentally obtained and passively-received rewards: A factorial fMRI investigation. Behavioural Brain Research. 177 (1): 165-170, 2007. PDF

Rio DE, Rawlings RR, Woltz LA, Salloum JB, Hommer DW. Single subject image analysis using complex general linear model - An application to functional magnetic imaging with multiple inputs. Computer Methods and Programs in Biomedicine. 82(1):10-19, 2006. PDF

Momenan R, Rawlings R, Fong G, Knutson B, Hommer D. Voxel-based homogeneity probability maps of gray matter in groups: assessing the reliability of functional effects. Neuroimage. 21(3):965-72, 2006. PDF


Bjork JM, Hommer DW, Grant SJ, Danube C. Impulsivity in abstinent alcohol-dependent patients: relation to control subjects and type 1-/type 2-like traits. Alcohol 2004; 42 (2-3): 133-150. PDF

Knutson B, Bjork JM, Fong GW, Hommer D, Mattay VS, Weinberger DR. Amphetamine modulates human incentive processing. Neuron. 43 (2):261-269, 2004 July . PDF

Bjork JM, Knutson B, Fong GW, Caggiano DM, Bennett SM, Hommer DW. Incentive-elicited brain activation in adolescents: similarities and differences from young adults. J Neurosci . 24(8):1793-1802, 2004 February. PDF


Bjork JM, Grant SJ, Hommer DW. Cross-sectional volumetric analysis of brain atrophy in alcohol dependence: effects of drinking history and comorbid substance use disorder. Am J Psychiatry. 160(11):2038-45, 2003 November. PDF


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