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Robert J. Morecraft, Ph.D. Education/Training Ph.D., Anatomy/Exercise Science/Neuroscience, The University of Iowa , 1989 M.A., Exercise Science, The University of Iowa, 1982 B.S., Physical Education, College of New Jersey, 1980 Post Doctoral Professor, Division of Basic Biomedical Sciences, Section of Anatomical and Neurological Sciences, University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, 2003—Present Associate Professor, Division of Basic Biomedical Sciences, Section of Anatomical and Neurological Sciences, University of South Dakota School Medicine, 1997-2003 Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy and Structural Biology, University of South Dakota School of Medicine., 1991-1997 Postdoctoral Fellow in Neurology/Neuroscience, Harvard Medical school, 1989-1991
Research Statement Our lab is engaged in neuroscience studies which are designed to learn how different parts of the cerebral cortex are interconnected. Specifically, we are involved in mapping out the nerve pathways that interconnect brain regions which control higher-order functions such as motivation, emotion, thinking and planning for action. This information is then used to interpret functional activation patterns in the healthy human brain acquired with sophisticated brain imaging methods such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) with the goal of learning about normal human behaviors. This information is also used to interpret “disconnection syndromes” in brain injured patients to learn about the abnormal behaviors that accompany brain injury. Finally, the information gathered in our laboratory on mapping nerve pathways in the non-human primate brain is also used as a “gold standard” to interpret new and developing imaging methods such as diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and diffusion spectral imaging (DSI) that attempt to map nerve pathways in the normal, and injured human brain.
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