Garth Thompson

Garth Thompson’s research has focused on understanding theneural and metabolic basis of resting state functional magneticresonance imaging (fMRI). Using fMRI, psychologists andneuroscientists have located networks of regions in the brain (e.g.left and right somatosensory cortex) which are synchronized evenwithout a task or stimulus (“resting state”). Such networks aredisrupted in psychological diseases such as Alzheimer’s diseaseand schizophrenia. However, application of these findings hasbeen limited due to a lack of understanding of their molecular andneural mechanisms. Within the iHuman group, Dr. Thompsonplans to connect molecular mechanisms of brain function anddisease to macroscopic brain networks. If such a connection canbe made, the use of fMRI for drug development becomes feasible.