Using functional brain scans to study child psychiatric disorders

Dr. Tamara Vanderwal, a 2020 Azrieli Future Leader in Canadian Brain Research and Professor at The University of British Columbia is looking for new ways of diagnosing and treating brain disorders for kids.  

Brain scans from MRI machines are an important research tool for studying psychiatric and neurological disorders in children. MRI lets us study brain structure, and functional MRI (fMRI) lets us also study brain function. Right now, there are no tests available for doctors to order when working with a child with a mental health disorder. Dr. Vanderwal is hoping to change this.  

The Naturalistic Neuroimaging Lab uses movies to study complex patterns of brain function in child psychiatric disorders. Using these movies helps Dr. Vanderwal’s team study children who have a hard time staying still inside the MRI machine, and they also enable the team to study the brain as it processes complex streams of information the same way that it does in real life.   

Funding from Brain Canada has made this highly innovative project possible.” 

Dr. Tamara Vanderwal, a 2020 Azrieli Future Leader in Canadian Brain Research

Learn more about the Future Leaders in Canadian Brain Research program.