external speaker at YNiC on 24th May

Dear Users Vitaly Napadow from the Department of Radiology, Harvard Medical School, will be giving a talk on "Neuroimaging in basic and translational acupuncture research" on Monday 24th May. This talk will take place from 12-1 pm in YNiC open plan. Everyone is welcome to attend. Best wishes Rebecca Link to Vitaly Nadapow's website: http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/~vitaly/ <http://www.nmr.mgh.harvard.edu/%7Evitaly/> *Brief Bio* Dr. Vitaly Napadow is an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and the Department of Radiology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He received his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Vitaly also graduated from the New England School of Acupuncture (NESA), and practices acupuncture at Brigham & Women's Hospital Pain Management Center. His research interests focus on the processing of acupuncture by the brain, and the mechanisms underlying acupuncture efficacy for various disease states including chronic pain. **Abstract** Acupuncture is an ancient East Asian healing modality that has been in use for more than 2000 years. Unfortunately, its mechanisms of action are not well understood, and controversy regarding its clinical efficacy remains. Importantly, acupuncture needling often evokes complex somatosensory sensations and may modulate the cognitive/affective perception of pain, suggesting that many effects are supported by the brain’s control of central nervous system networks. Modern neuroimaging techniques such as functional magnetic resonance imaging provide a means to safely monitor brain activity in humans and may be used to both characterize brain response to acupuncture stimulation, as well as to map the neurophysiological correlates of acupuncture’s effects on various pathologies. In this talk, I will outline some of our lab’s recent studies including (1) mapping the specific brain correlates of acupuncture sensation, known as deqi, which is thought to be associated with good clinical outcomes, (2) investigating acupuncture’s delayed effects on resting functional connectivity in default mode and sensorimotor brain networks, and (3) evaluating the effects of a course of clinical acupuncture therapy on somatosensory processing and somatotopy in patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. -- ************************************************************************ Dr. Rebecca E. Millman Science Liaison Officer York Neuroimaging Centre The Biocentre York Science Park Heslington YO10 5DG Tel: +44 (0) 1904 567614 Fax: +44 (0) 1904 435356