Likova Lab: Brain Plasticity, Learning & Neurorehabilitation
The main areas of my research are neuroplasticity, brain mechanisms of art and learning, blindness rehabilitation through cognitive and spatiomotor training, vision deficits in TBI, and multimodal sensorimotor processing in the blind and the sighted. My lab takes an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates multiple brain imaging techniques including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI) coupled with a unique multimodal motion-capture system, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), tensor-based brain morphometry (TBM), and electroencephalography (EEG).
Tabs
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. (2018). Comparative tensor-based morphometry of human brainstem in traumatic photophobia. Nature: Scientific Reports (in press).
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. (2017). Studying the Retinal Source of Photophobia by Facial Electroretinography. Optometry and Vision Science, 94(4). doi:10.1097/OPX.0001064
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. (2017). Memory-guided drawing training increases Granger causal influences from the perirhinal cortex to V1 in the blind. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, 141. Date Published May 31/2017. doi:10.1016/j.nlm.2017.03.013
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. (2017). Addressing long-standing controversies in conceptual knowledge representation in the temporal pole: A cross-modal paradigm. Electronic Imaging: Human Vision and Electronic Imaging, pp. 268-272(5). doi:https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2017.14.HVEI-155
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. (2016). Editorial:“Neural signal estimation in the human brain”. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 10, 185. doi:https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2016.00185
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. (2016). The Cortical Network for Braille Writing in the Blind. Electronic Imaging, 2016, 1–6. doi:https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2016.16.HVEI-095
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. (2016). Tactile object familiarity in the blind brain reveals the supramodal perceptual-mnemonic nature of the perirhinal cortex. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 10, 92. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2016.00092
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. (2015). Consequences of Traumatic Brain Injury for Human Vergence Dynamics. Frontiers in Neurology, 5. doi:10.3389/fneur.2014.00282
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. (2015). Analysis of Neural-BOLD Coupling Through Four Models of the Neural Metabolic Demand. Frontiers in neuroscience, 9. doi:doi: 10.3389/fnins.2015.00419.
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. (2015). Deficits in the activation of human oculomotor nuclei in chronic traumatic brain injury. Frontiers in Neurology, 6(173), 9. doi:doi: 10.3389/fneur.2015.00173
Pages
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Dr. Likova's Research on the Power of Drawing Featured in National Endowment for the Arts Webinar
On March 18, 2015, Dr Lora Likova’s work on how learning to draw promotes brain plasticity and can serve blindness rehabilitation was featured in a live National Endowment for the Arts webinar on
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Drawing Enhances Memory and Brain Plasticity Featured in Dana Foundation News
An online article in Dana Foundation News about the art/science relationships underlying Lora Likova’s blind training paradigm is available here:
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ABCs for Therapists Blog Post about Dr. Likova's Blind Drawing Training
A recent posting on the therapeutic value of the brain reorganization brought about by Lora Likova’s blind drawing training paradigm may be found here:
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United Academics Highlights Dr. Likova's Research on Brain Reorganization through Drawing
An online article about the implications of Lora Likova’s work for the visual memory of artists can be seen
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Smith-Kettlewell Brain Imaging Center
View CenterOur work centers on human visual neuroscience and computational vision, especially in the areas of stereoscopic depth, form, symmetry, and motion perception in adults, and the development of tests
Team Leader
Team Members:
Collaborators:
Contact:
lora@ski.org (415) 345-2066 (415) 345-2087
Funding:
Advanced Spatiomotor Rehabilitation in Blindness & Visual Impairment
Mechanisms of Photophobia in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Human Subjects: Therapeutic Implications
SL-CN: Harnessing the Power of Drawing for the Enhancement of Learning across Levels of Vision Function