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The Beauchamp Lab studies the neural mechanisms for multisensory integration and visual perception in human subjects; anatomically, the primary focus of the lab is on the superior temporal sulcus, a brain area critical for both the integration of auditory, visual, and somatosensory information and for the perception of complex visual motion, such as mouth movements. Many everyday tasks require us to integrate information from multiple modalities, such as during conversation when we make use of both the auditory information we hear in spoken speech and the visual information from the facial movements of the talker. Multisensory integration is especially important under conditions in which one modality is degraded, such as in a noisy room. To understand the neural mechanisms of multisensory integration and visual perception, we use a variety of methods, including electrocorticography (ECoG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and blood-oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI). Through these sophisticated studies, we hope to unlock one of nature's great mysteries: how the brain performs amazing computational feats, such as understanding speech, that allow us to make sense of the auditory and visual world around us. Every advance in deepening our knowledge of these processes is not only exciting for its own sake but will also help children and patients with language and perceptual difficulties.


The Beauchamp Lab studies the neural mechanisms for multisensory integration and visual perception in human subjects. Many complex tasks require us to integrate information from multiple modalities. For instance, when trying to understanding spoken language, we make use of both the auditory information we hear from the spoken speech and the visual information from the facial movements of the talker. Multisensory integration is especially important under conditions in which one modality is degraded, such as when conversing in a noisy room. Even in healthy young adults, there is considerable variability in people's ability to integration auditory and visual speech, but this difference in even more pronounced when other populations are examined. Very young children rely exclusively on auditory information to understand language, but in normal lifespan development the visual speech information play a greater role, sometimes becoming dominant as hearing declines with age. Different clinical populations also offer intriguing clues: deaf children are commonly implanted with a cochlear implant to allow them to hear, but the lack of auditory input to multisensory areas at a young age sometimes prevents them from from properly integrating the auditory and visual speech information. To understand the neural basis of multisensory integration, the primary method used is blood-oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI). fMRI experiments are conducted using the research-dedicated 3 tesla scanner in the UT MRI Center adjacent to the lab. Because of the limited temporal and spatial resolution of fMRI, we often combine it with other methods. Our main supplemental technique is transcranial magnetic stimulation, which temporarily inactivates a region of the brain. By combining fMRI and TMS in the same subject, we can determine if a region of activity observed in fMRI is truly important for the cognitive operation of interest. Another useful technique is electrical recording from patients implanted with electrodes for the treatment of medically intractable epilepsy, because it allows direct recording of the activity of small populations of neurons. Anatomically, the primary focus of the lab is on the superior temporal sulcus, a brain area critical for both the integration of auditory, visual, and somatosensory information and for the visual perception of complex movements, such as mouth movements.  
[[Image: MSB_Presenting.jpg | 300px]]
[[Image: CowboyScanner.jpg | 200px]]


Left: Michael Beauchamp presenting at IMRF 2014 in Amsterdam.
Right: The lab logo!


You can reach us at:
Dr. Beauchamp is the Director of [https://www.bcm.edu/research/centers/advanced-mr-imaging CAMRI, the Core for Advanced MRI] at Baylor College of Medicine.
  Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy
 
  University of Texas Medical School at Houston
Dr. Beauchamp is the Director of [https://www.bcm.edu/departments/neurosurgery/research Research in the Department of Neurosurgery] at Baylor College of Medicine.
  6431 Fannin Street, Suite G.550G
 
  Houston, Texas 77030
The Core for Advanced MRI (CAMRI) provides technology and services for advanced imaging studies of the function, physiology and anatomy of humans and large animals, with a special emphasis on blood-oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI) of the human brain. The center houses three Siemens Magnetom Trio Scanners (3 tesla field strength). A full complement of product pulse sequences are available for high resolution structural imaging, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), fMRI, Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) and single and multi-voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Research sequences are available for specialized imaging applications. For functional studies, equipment is available for stimulation of the auditory, visual, somatosensory and gustatory modalities, for infrared eye tracking of subject eye position, and for manual and vocal response recording. Consultation with an physicist is available for pulse sequence optimization and design. Users can scan with a MR technologist, or can elect to obtain training to scan independently.
 
[[Image:BCMlogo.png|120px|BCM logo]]   
[[Image:UTHealthLogo.jpg|120px|UT Health Logo]]   
[[Image:Ricelogo.jpg|120px|Rice logo]]   
 
You can reach us at: BeauchampLab (at) gmail.com

Revision as of 12:47, 16 July 2015

Brain picture
Beauchamp Lab



The Beauchamp Lab studies the neural mechanisms for multisensory integration and visual perception in human subjects; anatomically, the primary focus of the lab is on the superior temporal sulcus, a brain area critical for both the integration of auditory, visual, and somatosensory information and for the perception of complex visual motion, such as mouth movements. Many everyday tasks require us to integrate information from multiple modalities, such as during conversation when we make use of both the auditory information we hear in spoken speech and the visual information from the facial movements of the talker. Multisensory integration is especially important under conditions in which one modality is degraded, such as in a noisy room. To understand the neural mechanisms of multisensory integration and visual perception, we use a variety of methods, including electrocorticography (ECoG), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and blood-oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI). Through these sophisticated studies, we hope to unlock one of nature's great mysteries: how the brain performs amazing computational feats, such as understanding speech, that allow us to make sense of the auditory and visual world around us. Every advance in deepening our knowledge of these processes is not only exciting for its own sake but will also help children and patients with language and perceptual difficulties.

Left: Michael Beauchamp presenting at IMRF 2014 in Amsterdam. Right: The lab logo!

Dr. Beauchamp is the Director of CAMRI, the Core for Advanced MRI at Baylor College of Medicine.

Dr. Beauchamp is the Director of Research in the Department of Neurosurgery at Baylor College of Medicine.

The Core for Advanced MRI (CAMRI) provides technology and services for advanced imaging studies of the function, physiology and anatomy of humans and large animals, with a special emphasis on blood-oxygen level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI) of the human brain. The center houses three Siemens Magnetom Trio Scanners (3 tesla field strength). A full complement of product pulse sequences are available for high resolution structural imaging, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), fMRI, Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) and single and multi-voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). Research sequences are available for specialized imaging applications. For functional studies, equipment is available for stimulation of the auditory, visual, somatosensory and gustatory modalities, for infrared eye tracking of subject eye position, and for manual and vocal response recording. Consultation with an physicist is available for pulse sequence optimization and design. Users can scan with a MR technologist, or can elect to obtain training to scan independently.

BCM logo UT Health Logo Rice logo

You can reach us at: BeauchampLab (at) gmail.com

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