Massachusetts General Hospital

Research Investigator Profile

Bradford C. Dickerson, MD

• Associate Professor of Neurology,
  Harvard Medical School
• Director of Clinical Applications,
  Morphometry Service
  Massachusetts General Hospital,
• Co-Director, Neuroimaging Group,
  Gerontology Research Unit

Research Description

In Brad Dickerson's Neuroimaging Laboratory, we seek to understand the relationships between brain anatomy, physiology, and behavior in humans across the lifespan and in those with neurodegenerative diseases. We focus on memory and Alzheimer's disease. In our research on the anatomy and physiology of memory, we study brain structure and function using magnetic resonance imaging (structural and functional MRI), and try to understand the roles of various brain regions in normal human memory. Studies of aging include individuals in their '40s and '50s, as well as those in the 60-100+ age range, and seek to identify age-related changes in brain structure and function that relate to memory and cognitive task performance. In our research on Alzheimer's disease, we use MRI to investigate the locations and degrees to which brain regions are affected by the disease, and how these changes relate to clinical symptoms and difficulties with the performance of cognitive tasks.

Recently, we have begun using MRI methods of "ultra" high resolution to study brain structure and function at an unprecedented level of detail.

A special focus of our research is on mild cognitive impairment (MCI), in which individuals demonstrate subtle memory loss that may be the earliest symptom of Alzheimer's disease but which is often difficult to distinguish from the aging process itself.