Albany Medical College Virtual Brain Atlas       

2009 Symposium: Neuroimaging Advances and their Application to Medical Education

The June 2009 symposium focused on “Neuroimaging Advances and their Application to Enhancing Medical Education”.

Key Note Presentation: "Recent advances in structural and functional MRI"

Keith Schneider, PhD, Assistant Professor at the University of Missouri discussed Recent advances in structural and functional MRI. The presentation outlined the history of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) use in the neurosciences and advances in measurement. Dr. Schneider also discussed methods for brain standardization and MRI advancements in structural analysis, including registration problems, volumetric analysis (voxel-based morphometry and deformation-based morphometry), surface-based analysis and diffusion techniques (diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and tractography).  Also discussed were advances in fMRI analysis including independent components analysis (ICA), connectivity and causality and multi-voxel pattern analysis.

The 3D MRI-defined Virtual Brain Atlas for Medical Neuroanatomy Education

Tara Lindsley, PhD, Professor and Joseph Rozelle, student at Albany Medical College gave an overview and demonstration of the 3D MRI-defined virtual brain atlas for medical neuroanatomy teaching and learning that was developed at Albany Medical College. The software is available for free license and download at: http://www.amc.edu/academic/software .  

The 3D brain atlas features include:  

-        View of 80 structures of the brain; 

-        Corresponding MRI views; 

-        Zoom, opacity, full 360-degree rotation; 

-        The option of saving models for later use; 

-        The ability to print screen for Power Point or hard copy; 

-        Small file size (<100Mb).

Developing Interactive Image-based Quizzes

John Kubie, PhD, Associate Professor, SUNY Downstate Medical Center and Co-Chair of the AMSNY Neuroscience Educators Consortium discussed Developing Interactive Image-based Quizzes. Dr. Kubie demonstrated the Neuroquiz software developed at SUNY Downstate. The quiz software and brain atlases are available for download at: http://www.downstate.edu/neuroscience_materials/ .

2010 Symposium of the Neurosciences Committee

The 2010 Symposium of the Neurosciences Committee was held on June 8, 2010 at the New York University School of Medicine. The symposium had a dual focus: 

Keynote Presentation:  “Changing USMLE:  Facts, Fallacies,     Possibilities”

Peter J.  Katsufrakis, MD, MBA, Vice-President of Assessment Programs at the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) gave the keynote presentation on anticipated changes in the format of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE): Changing USMLE: Facts, Fallacies, Possibilities. For up-do-date information on the exam, please visit the USMLE website: http://www.usmle.org/General_Information/announcements.aspx.

Behavioral Neurosciences Presentation:  “Perspectives on Behavior    and Emotion”

Jeremy Coplan, MD, Director of the Division of Neuropsychopharmacology, and Co-Director of the Primate Behavioral Facility, at SUNY Downstate Medical Center, gave a talk on Translational Neuroscience: Perspectives on Behavior and Emotion.