Elizabeth B. Hutchinson

E-mail: ehutchinson@wisc.edu

Research Project:

The primary objective of my work, in the lab of Dr. Beth Meyerand, is to develop and apply diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) techniques to investigate the structural correlates of epilepsy in both a human patient population and an animal model. DTI is becoming increasingly popular in brain research due to the high sensitivity of DTI indices, such as fractional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusion (MD), to microstructural tissue changes that are not evident using other non-invasive methods. The main goals for human research are to identify DTI markers of early damage in new-onset idiopathic pediatric epilepsy and to characterize the differences in longitudinal DTI trajectories for this population compared to normal development. The main research goals regarding DTI of a kindled rat model of epileptogenesis are to determine the spatial and temporal DTI patterns that accompany seizure progression and the biological bases for the observed changes. Although the human and animal experiments cannot be directly compared, one of the broader goals of this work as a whole is to advance understanding of each toward the other by use of the same non-invasive imaging modality.

Abstracts and Publications:

• Hutchinson, E.B. and D.J. Kelley. 2008. Diffusion tensor imaging of cortical surface development. J. Neurosci. 28(20). [PDF]
• Stefanovic, B., E. Hutchinson, V. Yakovleva, V. Schram, J.T. Russell, L. Belluscio, A.P. Koretsky and A.C. Silva. 2007. Functional reactivity of cerebral capillaries. J. Cereb. Blood Flow & Metabolism. [PDF]
• Tian, W., J.H. Haeni, D.G. Schlom, E. Hutchinson, B.L. Sheu, M.M. Rosario, P. Schiffer, Y. Liu, M.A. Zurbuchen, and X.Q. Pan. 2007. Epitaxial growth and magnetic properties of the first five members of the layered Sr(n+1)Ru(n)O(3n+1) oxide series. Appl. Phys. Lett. 90, 022507.
• Hutchinson, E.B., A.B. McMillan, K. Dabbs, R. Sheth, B.P. Hermann, M. Seidenberg and M.E. Meyerand. 2007. Gray matter concentration differences accompany the onset of juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. Amer. Epilepsy Soc. Abstr.
• Hutchinson, E.B., A.B. McMillan, B.P. Hermann, M. Seidenberg and M.E. Meyerand. 2007. Heterogeneous diffusivity differences in the fornix and cingulum of pediatric epilepsy patients. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.
• Hutchinson, E.B., A.B. McMillan, K. Dabbs, B.P. Hermann, and M.E. Meyerand. 2007. Early reductions in diffusion anisotropy are apparent in pediatric epilepsy. Joint Annual Meeting ISMRM-ESMRMB Abstr.
• Hutchinson, E.B., B. Stefanovic, A.P. Koretsky and A.C. Silva. 2006. Spatial flow-volume dissociation of the cerebral microcirculatory response to mild hypercapnia. Neuroimage 32: 520-530. [PDF]
• Hutchinson, E.B., A.B. McMillan, J.D. Stone, R. Sheth, J. Jones, B.P Hermann, M. Seidenberg, and M.E. Meyerand. 2006. Heterogeneous white matter alterations accompany pediatric epilepsy as determined by diffusion tensor magnetic resonance imaging. Amer. Epilepsy Soc. Conf. Abstr.
• Stefanovic, B., E.B. Hutchinson, A.P. Koretsky, and A.C. Silva. 2006. Microcirculatory response to forepaw stimulation. Soc. Neurosci. Abstr.
• Wang, H., J. Wang, M. Tian, L. Bell, E. Hutchinson, M.M. Rosario, Y. Liu, A. Amma, and T. Mallouk. 2004. Metallic contacts with individual Ru nanowires prepared by electrochemical deposition and the suppression of superconductivity in ultrasmall Ru grains. App. Phy. Lett. 84: 5171-5173. [PDF]
• Hutchinson, E.B., A.C. Silva, and A.P. Koretsky. 2004. Spatial and temporal heterogeneity of cerebral microcirculatory response to mild hypercapnia in rats. Gordon Res. Conf. Abstr.