Abstract: Our brain is constantly exposed to neurotoxic insults due to environmental and occupational toxicants, which may play a role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases. For example, even in today’s occupational settings inhalation of welding fumes is reported to cause accumulation of the metal manganese (Mn) in the brain, neurochemical changes, and subsequently changes in cognitive and motor function that resemble Parkinson’s Disease. In recent years we reported on increased brain Mn levels correlating with cognitive outcomes, on novel MRI ways to assess excess manganese on a whole-brain basis, as well as on significantly elevated in vivo levels of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the thalamus of metal workers in China and the US. In some brain regions those changes were reversible, with the rate of change being modulated by the amount of life-long exposure to Mn. Our current studies use novel quantitative MRI (qMRI) and advanced MRS editing techniques to explore the dose-response relationships of uptake and elimination of Mn and other heavy metals into specific brain regions of the human brain, the metal burden of the individual brain for risk assessment, and the relationship of brain Mn to oxidative stress markers, neurotransmitter imbalances and neurological outcomes. This talk will introduce and illustrate how non-invasive in-vivo MRI methods may be used to study both the effects and mechanisms of environmental and occupational neurotoxicity.

Biography:  Dr. Dydak received her bachelor’s degree in physics from the University of Vienna, Austria, and her PhD and postdoctoral training in biomedical engineering from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) Zürich, Switzerland. The Dydak lab focuses on the development and translation of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Spectroscopy (MRS) techniques for the in vivo assessment of metal burden in the body and neurochemical concentrations to study disease status and disease prevention. One main goal of the Dydak lab is to use these in vivo imaging methods to better understand the neurotoxic effects of environmental and occupational toxicants.

~ BME Host: Yunjie Tong ~

ZOOM LINK:  https://purdue-edu.zoom.us/j/9302687285?pwd=MUF1WDludmxQMzYwdkVUNWFWakhNQT09