Studying the anatomical organization of the human hippocampal system using high-field MRI

Abstract: 

Animal tract-tracing studies provided critical insights into the organizational principles of the hippocampal system, thus defining the anatomical constraints within which animal mnemonic functions operate. However, no clear framework defining the anatomical organization of the human hippocampal system exists. This gap in knowledge originates in notoriously low MRI data quality in the human medial temporal lobe and in group-level blurring of idiosyncratic anatomy between adjacent brain regions comprising the medial temporal lobe. In this talk, I will present our recent data, which overcame these longstanding challenges and allowed us to explore in detail the cortical networks associated with the human medial temporal lobe, and to examine the intrinsic organization of the hippocampal-entorhinal system with unprecedented anatomical precision. Our results point to biologically meaningful and previously unknown organizational principles of the human hippocampal system. These findings facilitate the study of the evolutionary trajectory of the hippocampal connectivity and function across species, and prompt a reformulation of the neuroanatomical basis of episodic memory.

Bio:

Daniel Reznik is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Psychology, Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences, where he uses high-field (7T) fMRI  for studying the functional neuroanatomy of the human medial temporal lobe at the individual-subject level. Prior to his postdoctoral appointment in Max Planck Institute, Daniel was trained in precision neuroimaging and computational modeling at Harvard University. Outside of research, Daniel teaches comparative neuroanatomy to psychology students in Leipzig University, and enjoys playing tennis and translating philosophy.