Research at the WIN
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Email: win@uwo.ca
Tel: 519-661-2111 x82205
Western Institute for Neuroscience
Western Interdisciplinary Research Building,
Western University,
1151 Richmond Street,
London, Ontario N6A 3K7
Recent Publications by WIN members
Subgrouping autism and ADHD based on structural MRI population modelling centile.
(2025) Molecular Autism.
Diagnostic cortical stimulation (CS) in intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) is an established epilepsy presurgical assessment tool to delineate relevant brain functions and elicit habitual epileptic seizures. Currently, no consensus exists as to whether CS should be routinely performed in pediatric patients. A significant challenge is their limited ability to cooperate during the procedure or to describe non-observable seizure semiology features. Our goal was to identify the spectrum of CS practices in Canada, for both eloquent cortex mapping and seizure stimulation.
Read MoreCortical Stimulation for Brain Mapping and Seizure Stimulation, Pediatric Practices Throughout Canada: A national survey and systematic literature review.
(2025) Neurophysiol Clin.
Background: Autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are two highly heterogeneous neurodevelopmental conditions with variable underlying neurobiology. Imaging studies have yielded varied results, and it is now clear that there is unlikely to be one characteristic neuroanatomical profile of either condition. Parsing this heterogeneity could allow us to identify more homogeneous subgroups, either within or across conditions, which may be more clinically informative. This has been a pivotal goal for neurodevelopmental research using both clinical and neuroanatomical features, though results thus far have again been inconsistent with regards to the number and characteristics of subgroups.
Methods: Here, we use population modelling to cluster a multi-site dataset based on global and regional centile scores of cortical thickness, surface area and grey matter volume. We use HYDRA, a novel semi-supervised machine learning algorithm which clusters based on differences to controls and compare its performance to a traditional clustering approach. Results We identified distinct subgroups within autism and ADHD, as well as across diagnosis, often with opposite neuroanatomical alterations relatively to controls. These subgroups were characterised by different combinations of increased or decreased patterns of morphometrics. We did not find significant clinical differences across subgroups.
Read MoreBasis Function Compression for Field Probe Monitoring.
(2025) Magn Reson Med.
Field monitoring using field probes allows for accurate measurement of magnetic field perturbations, such as from eddy currents, during MRI scanning. However, errors may result when the spatial variation of the fields is not well-described by the conventionally used spherical harmonics model that has the maximum order constrained by the number of probes. The objective of this work was to develop and validate a field monitoring approach that compresses higher order spherical harmonics into a smaller set of new basis functions that can be characterized using fewer probes.
Read MoreEarly Identification of Language Disorders using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning: Challenges and emerging approaches.
(2025) J Speech Lang Hear Res.
Recent advances in artifical intelligence provide opportunitites to capture and represent complex features of human language in a more auomated manner, offering potential means of improving the efficiency of language assessment. This review article presents computerized approaaches for the analysis of narrative language identification and identification of language disorders in Children.
Read MoreCuriosity and Reward After Unsuccessful Memory Recall.
(2025) Conscious Cogn.
Curiosity is a motivational state characterized by the desire to obtain knowledge. Prior research suggests that metacognitive experiences during unsuccessful memory recall may induce curiosity. Specifically, feeling-of-knowing (FOK) experiences have been associated with increased subsequent information-seeking behaviour for inaccessible information. Here, we further investigated this relationship by focusing on subjective experiences of curiosity and reward.
Read MoreCortical Stimulation for Brain Mapping and Seizure Stimulation, Pediatric Practices Throughout Canada: A national survey and systematic literature review.
(2025) Neurophysiol Clin.
Diagnostic cortical stimulation (CS) in intracranial electroencephalography (iEEG) is an established epilepsy presurgical assessment tool to delineate relevant brain functions and elicit habitual epileptic seizures. Currently, no consensus exists as to whether CS should be routinely performed in pediatric patients. A significant challenge is their limited ability to cooperate during the procedure or to describe non-observable seizure semiology features. Our goal was to identify the spectrum of CS practices in Canada, for both eloquent cortex mapping and seizure stimulation.
Read MoreImage Segmentation with Traveling Waves in an Exactly Solvable Recurrent Neuronal Network.
(2025) PNAS
Sensory expectations influence movement preparation, as humans and monkeys probabilistically cued about a future mechanical perturbation adjust their preparatory activity and improve corrective responses. High-density neural recordings reveal that these expectations shape motor cortical dynamics, with neural population activity scaling with perturbation probability and driving rapid responses through learned sensory-feedback integration.
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