White Matter Imaging

The Foundation has developed a particular interest in projects exploring the potential usefulness of white matter imaging for understanding autism. This Boston Club meeting was designed to explore issues such as: what kinds of new knowledge can be obtained through this technology; whether white matter imaging might enhance our ability to think about autism from the point of view of cognitive neuroscience; whether this technology might allow us to reconsider Geschwind’s theory of interhemispheric communications abnormalities as an explanation for autism; and how white matter imaging might shed light on the communication impairment so characteristic of autism. The ultimate goal of this Boston Club meeting was to help the Foundation conceptualize future funding programs in this intriguing area.

White matter connectivity studies using MRI 
Tom Conturo, M.D., Ph.D., Washington University School of Medicine

Localization of white matter enlargement in autism and its implications
Martha Herbert, M.D., Ph.D., Massachusetts General Hospital

In vivo visualization of neuronal connections in auditory cortex
Dae-Shik Kim, Ph.D., Boston University School of Medicine

Connectivity-based grey matter parcellation: a new approach to understanding normal and pathological brain development
Paul Matthews, M.D., University of Oxford

Functional underconnectivity in autism: Results of fMRI studies
Nancy Minshew, M.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine

Methodological aspects of fMRI and DTI in autism
Wolfgang Richter, Ph.D., Princeton University

Neural connectivity in DS22q11.2: Implications for cognitive function and autism
Tony Simon, Ph.D., University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

Brain and behavioral studies of language impairment in autism
Helen Tager-Flusberg, Ph.D., Boston University

2004

Boston Copley Marriott, Boston, MA