I am an alumnus of the Montreal Neurological Institute. One of my professors (Alan Evans) always says: "You can check out, but you can never leave [the Neuro]". He is right. I came to the Neuro as a Computer (on paper, but really an Electromagnetic) engineer with an NSERC and an interest in measuring the "Specific Absorption Rate" of the radiofrequency cell-phone waves in automatically segmentable brain tissues. Lukily for me, there was a Magnetic Resonance Imaging laboratory to absorb me at the MNI (not to measure SAR, but to measure little head movements inside an MRI scanner). Through learning how to exploit micro-magnetic properties of hydrogen atoms of the brain in presence of macro-magnetic fields, I ended up as a neuroscientist with a curiousity about the neurophysiological circuitry of the brain. I am currently doing some of my dreamed research in Leiden University, in the Netherlands. But, I cannot help looking back at my days at the MNI and remembering fondly the first-class education I was provided; the awe-inspiring computational infrastructure; the numerous conferences and seminars giving us the opportunity to learn from some of the top neuroscientists of the world. The Neuro is not just a research hospital; it is a vision! For all that which has prepared me to take off on a wonderful journey, I am forever grateful.
My academic background
- Undergraduate thesis: Computational Modelling (FDTD) of Electromagnetic Radiation of Cellular Phone Antenna in the User's Head.
- Supervisors: Drs. Christopher W. Trueman and Stanley J. Kubina
Bachelor of Electrical Engineering (1995-1998; Concordia University, Montreal)
- Master's Thesis: Design and Implementation of 3D Orbital Navigator Echoes for Measurement of Rigid Body Motion in Echo Planar Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Slides
- Supervisor: Dr Bruce Pike
Master's of Biomedical Engineering (1998-2001; McGill University, Montreal)
- Thesis: Observing the Stressed Brain: Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Neural Correlates of Hypthalamus Pituitary Adrenal Axis Function
- Supervisors: Drs. Jens C. Pruessner and Alan C. Evans.
- The Hypothalamic Pituitary Adrenal (HPA) axis is the coordinator of adaptive responses to physical and psychological stress. The central nervous system plays a key role in modulation of both basal and adaptive HPA axis functions. In fact, since long ago, animal studies have shown that acute and chronic exposure to glucocorticoids (a stress hormone released due to HPA axis activation, cortisol in humans) affects the function and the morphology of brain areas such as the hippocampus and the cingulate cortex. This thesis is based on novel neuroimaging methodologies used to investigate the interactions of psychological stress, cortisol and the brain. It consists of three functional studies and a morphometric one. In the first functional study we showed that the hippocampus (where glucocorticoid receptors are most abundant) plays a role in initiation of an HPA axis stress response. In the second study, we showed that besides hippocampus, the neural activity in the so-called "default mode network" (DMN), especially the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), relates to interindividual variations in HPA axis response to psychological stress. In the third study we investigated the cortisol-modulation of the DMN. Again, we provided evidence for a role of the ACC and the orbitofrontal cortex in negative feedback inhibition of the HPA axis activity. Finally, we showed a morphological link between the ACC and the cortisol response to awakening which is an index of basal HPA axis activity. Overall, our findings confirm the critical role of the ACC and mesolimbic system in HPA axis regulation. These findings also draw attention to the interactions between functional subregions of the medial prefrontal cortex and states of HPA axis function prior to stress onset--suggesting an interplay of the monitoring and the executive planning roles of the medial prefrontal cortex in behavioral adaptation to stress. Beyond stress research, our findings offer a framework for combining neuroimaging and neuroendocrinology to better understand the interindividual variances in behavior, and perhaps to better identify subgroups at risk of psychological disorders.
PhD Neuroscience (2004-2009, McGill University, Montreal)
Master's of Art in Film Studies (2001-2008, parttime, Mel Hoppenheim School of Cinema, Montreal)
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Past Projects
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Najma Khalili <najma@bic.mni.mcgill.ca>
created: 22 Jun 2000
last modified: July 2007