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School of Medicine

Dr Laura Parkes MPhys, MSc, PhD.

Photograph of Laura Parkes

Lecturer

Imaging Sciences,

Stopford Building,

Oxford Rd,

University of Manchester

M13 9PT.

 

Role

I conduct research in the field of Neuroimaging.
I run the medical imaging module of the MSc course in physics and engineering applied to medicine and biology.

 

Memberships of Committees and Professional Bodies

Full member of the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine.
Full member of the Society for Neuroscience.

Research

My research focus is the quantification of neurophysiological properties of the human brain, using both MRI and MEG. In particular I have developed quantitative measurements of cerebral blood flow (CBF) and oxygen metabolism in the human brain through the use of the arterial spin labeling (ASL) technique. I have applied these techniques to the study of cerebrovascular disease and ageing. In my developing career I plan to continue work in small vessel disease and use a combination of imaging measurements to investigate the physiological changes that lead to neuronal damage and cognitive decline in this disease, and other forms of dementia.
I am also interested in the potential for the brain to recover from disease and adapt, and in the mechanisms underlying this brain plasticity. My current research focuses on the neurophysiological changes that accompany cortical plasticity in both the visual and somatosensory systems of the normal healthy brain. I use both MEG and MRI to measure indicators of change, such as location and extent of the somatotopic map and the changing synaptic weighting between groups of neurons. I have implemented a multi-voxel pattern classification approach to fMRI analysis which I think is key to understanding changes in neural tuning that accompany plasticity. I plan to continue basic work on neural coding of sensory inputs.
 

 

Methodological Knowledge

General MRI physics, with advanced knowledge of functional MRI and Arterial Spin Labelling.
Extensive knowledge of fMRI design, stimulus presentation using 'Presentation' sotware and analysis using BrainVoyager software.
Magnetoencephalography (MEG).
Combined EEG and fMRI (Brain Vision system).

 

Teaching

I run the medical imaging module on the MSc course in physics and engineering applied to medicine and biology.
I currently supervise a number of research students, including 6 PhD and 5 MSc students.

 

Biography

With a background in both physics (MPhys Oxford, 1997) and neuroscience (MSc, UCL 1999) my research is focussed on developing novel methodology to study brain function. Following a PhD on quantitative measurements of cerebral blood flow (UCL, 2002), I moved to the Netherlands to complete postdoctoral research using fMRI and MEG. In 2005 I returned to the UK, first to the University of Liverpool and now as a lecturer at Manchester University. One principle area of reseach concerns mechanisms of brain plasticity following a New Investigators Award from the Medical Research Council in 2006. I continue to study the cerebrovascular system, and have developed quantitative measurements of cerebral blood flow and oxygen metabolism in response to neural activation. Applications in ageing and cerebral small vessel disease are ongoing, with an aim to understand mechanisms of cognitive decline and dementia.
 

 

Qualifications

1997 – 2001 PhD at the Institute of Neurology, University College London.
                  ‘Measuring blood perfusion in the brain using arterial spin labelled MRI’.
1998 - 1999 MSc at University College London.
                  Neurological Science. Research project in visual psychophysics.
1993 - 1997 MPhys (Hons) 2:1 Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford University.
                  Physics
 

 

Collaborators and affiliated staff

External Collaborators:
Prof Nikos Logothetis, Max Plank Institute, Tubingen University, Germany.
Dr Sophie Wuerger, University of Liverpool.
Dr Vanessa Sluming, University of Liverpool.
Dr Laurence Abernethy, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust.
Dr Hedley Emsley, Royal Preston Hospital.

Internal Collaborators:
Prof Geoff Parker
Dr Stephen Wellbourne
Dr Roland Zahn
Dr Wael El-Deredy

 

Publications

2011

  • Abdul-Kareem IA, Stancak A, Parkes LM, Al-Ameen M, AlGhamdi J, Aldhafeeri FM, Embleton K, Morris D, Sluming V. (2011). Plasticity of the superior and middle cerebellar peduncles in musicians revealed by quantitative analysis of volume and number of fibers based on diffusion tensor tractography. cerebellum, eScholarID:128501 | DOI:DOI 10.1007/s12311-011-0274-1
  • Abdul-Kareem IA, Stancak A, Parkes LM, Sluming V. (In-press). Increased gray matter volume of left pars opercularis in male orchestral musicians correlate positively with years of musical performance. JMRI, eScholarID:101668
  • Gibson LM, Allan SM, Parkes LM, Emsley HC. (2011). Occult cerebrovascular disease and late onset epilepsy: could loss of neurovascular unit integrity be a viable model? Cardiovascular psychiatry and neurology, 2011, eScholarID:128498 | DOI:doi:10.1155/2011/130406
  • Mohtasib RS, Lumley G, Goodwin JA, Emsley HCA, Sluming V, Parkes LM. (In-press). Calibrated fMRI during a cognitive Stroop task reveals reduced metabolic response with increasing age. Neuroimage, eScholarID:128509 | DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2011.07.092
  • Vidyasagar R, Parkes LM. (In-press). Reproducibility of fMRI localization in primary somatosensory cortex. Jounral Magnetic Resonance Imaging, eScholarID:128508 | DOI:10.1002/jmri.22758

2010

  • Wuerger SM and Parkes LM. (2010). Unique Hues: Perception and brain imaging. Progress in Colour Studies. eScholarID:101674
  • Vidyasagar R, Stancak A, Parkes LM. (2010). An fMRI and MEG study of neuronal repetition suppression in the visual cortex. Neuroimage, 49, 1612-1621. eScholarID:101665 | DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.10.020

2009

  • Abdul-Kareem IA, Stancak A, Parkes LM, Sluming V. (2009). Regional Corpus Callosum Morphometry: Effect of Field Strength and Pulse Sequence. Journal of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, 30(5), 6. eScholarID:84414 | DOI:10.1002/jmri.21932
  • Goodwin J, Vidyasagar R, Balanos G, Bulte D, Parkes LLM. (2009). Quantitative fMRI using hyperoxia calibration: reproducibility during a cognitive Stroop task. Neuroimage, 47( 2), eScholarID:1d20829 | DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2009.04.064
  • Lui, S, Parkes, LLM, Huang, X, Zou, K, Chan, R, Yang, H, Zou, L, Li, D, Tang, H, Zhang, T, Li, X, Wei, Y, Chen, L, Sun, X, Kemp, G, Gong, Q. (2009). Depressive disorders: focally altered cerebral perfusion measured with arterial spin-labeling MR imaging. Radiology, 251( 2), eScholarID:1d20827 | DOI:10.1148/radiol.2512081548
  • Parkes LLM, Marsman J, Oxley D, Goulermas J, Wuerger S. (2009). Multivoxel fMRI analysis of color tuning in human primary visual cortex. J Vis, 9( 1), eScholarID:1d20830 | DOI:10.1167/9.1.1

2008

  • Ng, S, Turner, M, Gamble, C, Didi, M, Victor, S, Malamateniou, C, Parkes, LLM, Tietze, A, Gregory, L, Sluming, V, Abernethy, L, Weindling, A. (2008). TIPIT: a randomised controlled trial of thyroxine in preterm infants under 28 weeks gestation: magnetic resonance imaging and magnetic resonance angiography protocol. BMC Pediatr, 8, eScholarID:1d20832 | DOI:10.1186/1471-2431-8-26
  • Parkes LM, Hodgson R, Lu L, Tung L, Robinson I, Fernig D, Thanh N. (2008). Cobalt nanoparticles as a novel magnetic resonance contrast agent--relaxivities at 1.5 and 3 Tesla. Contrast Media Mol Imaging, 3( 4), eScholarID:1d20831 | DOI:10.1002/cmmi.241

2007

  • Parkes LM, de Lange F, Fries P, Toni I, Norris D. (2007). Inability to directly detect magnetic field changes associated with neuronal activity. Magn Reson Med, 57( 2), eScholarID:1d20833 | DOI:10.1002/mrm.21129

2006

  • Hoogenboom N, Schoffelen J, Oostenveld R, Parkes LM, Fries P. (2006). Localizing human visual gamma-band activity in frequency, time and space. Neuroimage, 29( 3), eScholarID:1d20837 | DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.08.043
  • Parkes LM, Bastiaansen M, Norris D. (2006). Combining EEG and fMRI to investigate the post-movement beta rebound. Neuroimage, 29( 3), eScholarID:1d20836 | DOI:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2005.08.018

2005

  • Parkes LM, Schwarzbach J, Bouts A, Deckers R, Pullens P, Kerskens C, Norris D. (2005). Quantifying the spatial resolution of the gradient echo and spin echo BOLD response at 3 Tesla. Magn Reson Med, 54( 6), eScholarID:1d20834 | DOI:10.1002/mrm.20712
  • Parkes LM. (2005). Quantification of cerebral perfusion using arterial spin labeling: two-compartment models. J Magn Reson Imaging, 22( 6), eScholarID:1d20835 | DOI:10.1002/jmri.20456

2004

  • Parkes LLM, Fries P, Kerskens C, Norris D. (2004). Reduced BOLD response to periodic visual stimulation. Neuroimage, 21( 1), eScholarID:1d20840
  • Parkes LLM, Rashid W, Chard D, Tofts P. (2004). Normal cerebral perfusion measurements using arterial spin labeling: reproducibility, stability, and age and gender effects. Magn Reson Med, 51( 4), eScholarID:1d20839 | DOI:10.1002/mrm.20023
  • Rashid, W, Parkes, LLM, Ingle, G, Chard, D, Toosy, A, Altmann, D, Symms, M, Tofts, P, Thompson, A, Miller, D. (2004). Abnormalities of cerebral perfusion in multiple sclerosis. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry, 75( 9), eScholarID:1d20838 | DOI:10.1136/jnnp.2003.026021

2003

  • Parkes LM and Detre JA. (2003). Blood Perfusion Measurements Using Arterial Spin Labelling. Quantitative MRI of the Brain: Measuring Changes Caused by Disease. Wiley. eScholarID:128510

2002

  • Parkes LLM, Tofts P. (2002). Improved accuracy of human cerebral blood perfusion measurements using arterial spin labeling: accounting for capillary water permeability. Magn Reson Med, 48( 1), eScholarID:1d20841 | DOI:10.1002/mrm.10180

2001

  • Parkes LM, Lund J, Angelucci A, Solomon J, Morgan M. (2001). Compulsory averaging of crowded orientation signals in human vision. Nat Neurosci, 4( 7), eScholarID:1d20842 | DOI:10.1038/89532

Research Projects

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