BRAMS is proud to host Banting Fellow Patrice Voss, PhD. He will be holding this highly prestigious Canadian scholarship from June 2012 to May 2014.
Patrice Voss, who has been pursuing research at BRAMS since June 2009 under Prof. Robert Zatorre’s supervision, obtained one of the 70 prestigious Banting fellowship, managed by the Government of Canada. The purpose of the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships Program is to build world-class research capacity by recruiting top-tier Canadian and international postdoctoral researchers at an internationally competitive level of funding.
Patrice Voss’ research project is entitled “Neuroanatomical and neurometabolical markers of crossmodal brain plasticity in the blind using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) tractography and magnetic resonance spectrography (MRS)”.
The blind constitute excellent models of the plastic nature of the human brain, and studying their cognitive and neurological functioning allows us to understand how a drastic environmental factor —sensory deprivation—affects brain anatomy and function, and hence cognitive/perceptual abilities. Using specialized neuroimaging techniques, the current proposal aims to better quantify the underlying mechanisms of both the neurofunctional and neuroanatomical changes observed in the blind.
For further information on the Banting Postdoctoral Fellowships program, please visit their website.