EE Graduate Seminar
Functional Brain Circuits, nAChR Genes, and Smoking
Dr. Elliot Hong
Director, Brain Imaging Center
Associate Professor
Maryland Psychiatric Research Center
University of Maryland School of Medicine
11:30am-12:45pm Friday, 4 Nov 11, ITE 231
About 20% of the US population smokes cigarettes. Smoking is influenced by genetic and environmental factors and mental illnesses.The neurobiological basis of severe nicotine addiction is unclear. We use gene-circuit analysis, resting fMRI, diffusion tensor imaging, and circuit-addiction behavior analyses to examine the dorsal anterior cingulate and the ventral striatum/extended amygdala (dACC-VS/EA) brain circuit and its relationship to smoking.
Dr. Hong received the M.D. degree in 1986 from the Sun Yat-Sen University Science in China. In 2003-07 he was an Asst Professor in the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center (MPRC), Psychiatry Department, University of Maryland School of Medicine. He became an Assoc. Professor in 2008. In 2010 Dr. Hong was appointed as both the Chief of the Neuroimaging Research Program and Director of the Brain Imaging Center at MPRC.
Seminar Host: Prof. Joel M. Morris