Mark S. Cohen
Encyclopedia
Mark S. Cohen is a neuroscientist
and early pioneer of functional brain imaging using magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI). He currently is a Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology
, Radiology
, Psychology, Biomedical Physics
and Biomedical Engineering
at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Behavior and the Staglin Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. He is also a performing musician.
and Stanford University
, where he received his bachelor's degree in Human Biology. He then went to the Rockefeller University
where he trained under Victor Wilson, Donald Pfaff and Susan Schwartz Giblin, receiving his Ph.D. in 1985 for his work on the pudendal nerve evoked response and its modulation by steroid hormones.
In 1985 Cohen joined the MRI Applications Group at Siemens Healthcare where he began a career in MRI focused originally on education, and on technological improvements to reduce scan times. Form 1988 to 1990 he directed the applications program at Advanced NMR Systems in Woburn Massachusetts, a small startup dedicated to the creation of a practical echo planar imaging instrument. He joined the faculty at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital
in 1990 where he directed the "Hyperscan" fast imaging laboratory, and the MRI education program until 1993. Since 1993 he has been at UCLA, where he developed with John Mazziotta the first dedicated functional MRI imaging center.
Source:
as cover art, using a now canonical image that Cohen created. After moving to Harvard he went on to play a crucial role in the second major advanced in functional MRI that resulted in Kenneth Kwong
's seminal paper (in the same year that Ogawa and colleagues submitted their results subsequently published a year later in PNAS.) that was a landmark in the field now known as Functional MRI or fMRI.
As a consequence of his original training in neurophysiology, was interested developing a practical means of recording brain electrical signals EEG
simultaneously with fMRI. The method that he created was licensed to Electrical Geodesics, Inc. and sold as the GES300MR. With his student, Robin Goldman, he demonstrated strong functional associations between MRI and EEG signals.
His interests and publications span a broad range of topics including schizophrenia, mental imagery, biophysics, time perception, drug addiction , epilepsy, cardiac imaging and others. His current work concentrates heavily on the development and application of machine learning methods to the decoding of brain activity and the physiology of cognition.
Source:
. Cohen plays frequently with Albert Lee
at private parties and appears on his record, "Road Runner."
Neuroscientist
A neuroscientist is an individual who studies the scientific field of neuroscience or any of its related sub-fields...
and early pioneer of functional brain imaging using magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
(MRI). He currently is a Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
, Radiology
Radiology
Radiology is a medical specialty that employs the use of imaging to both diagnose and treat disease visualized within the human body. Radiologists use an array of imaging technologies to diagnose or treat diseases...
, Psychology, Biomedical Physics
Physics
Physics is a natural science that involves the study of matter and its motion through spacetime, along with related concepts such as energy and force. More broadly, it is the general analysis of nature, conducted in order to understand how the universe behaves.Physics is one of the oldest academic...
and Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical engineering
Biomedical Engineering is the application of engineering principles and design concepts to medicine and biology. This field seeks to close the gap between engineering and medicine: It combines the design and problem solving skills of engineering with medical and biological sciences to improve...
at the UCLA Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Behavior and the Staglin Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. He is also a performing musician.
Background
Mark Cohen was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota. He was raised in Stanford, California. Cohen did his undergraduate studies at both the Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyMassachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...
and Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, where he received his bachelor's degree in Human Biology. He then went to the Rockefeller University
Rockefeller University
The Rockefeller University is a private university offering postgraduate and postdoctoral education. It has a strong concentration in the biological sciences. It is also known for producing numerous Nobel laureates...
where he trained under Victor Wilson, Donald Pfaff and Susan Schwartz Giblin, receiving his Ph.D. in 1985 for his work on the pudendal nerve evoked response and its modulation by steroid hormones.
In 1985 Cohen joined the MRI Applications Group at Siemens Healthcare where he began a career in MRI focused originally on education, and on technological improvements to reduce scan times. Form 1988 to 1990 he directed the applications program at Advanced NMR Systems in Woburn Massachusetts, a small startup dedicated to the creation of a practical echo planar imaging instrument. He joined the faculty at Harvard/Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital is a teaching hospital and biomedical research facility in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts...
in 1990 where he directed the "Hyperscan" fast imaging laboratory, and the MRI education program until 1993. Since 1993 he has been at UCLA, where he developed with John Mazziotta the first dedicated functional MRI imaging center.
Source:
Academic Research
Professor Cohen's significant achievements in MRI include the earliest clinical uses of echo-planar imaging, defining the safe boundaries of operation of high-end MRI units. While at Advanced NMR Systems he partnered with Jack Belliveau and others to create the first functional images of the human brain by MRI, using the ultra-fast instrument he and his collaborators created. The latter work appeared in Science MagazineScience Magazine
Science Magazine was a half-hour television show produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation from 1975 to 1979.The show was hosted by geneticist David Suzuki, who previously hosted the daytime youth programme Suzuki On Science...
as cover art, using a now canonical image that Cohen created. After moving to Harvard he went on to play a crucial role in the second major advanced in functional MRI that resulted in Kenneth Kwong
Kenneth Kwong
Kenneth Kwong is an Associate Professor in radiology at Harvard Medical School. His work, along with that of Seiji Ogawa, was significant in the development of fMRI....
's seminal paper (in the same year that Ogawa and colleagues submitted their results subsequently published a year later in PNAS.) that was a landmark in the field now known as Functional MRI or fMRI.
As a consequence of his original training in neurophysiology, was interested developing a practical means of recording brain electrical signals EEG
EEG
EEG commonly refers to electroencephalography, a measurement of the electrical activity of the brain.EEG may also refer to:* Emperor Entertainment Group, a Hong Kong-based entertainment company...
simultaneously with fMRI. The method that he created was licensed to Electrical Geodesics, Inc. and sold as the GES300MR. With his student, Robin Goldman, he demonstrated strong functional associations between MRI and EEG signals.
His interests and publications span a broad range of topics including schizophrenia, mental imagery, biophysics, time perception, drug addiction , epilepsy, cardiac imaging and others. His current work concentrates heavily on the development and application of machine learning methods to the decoding of brain activity and the physiology of cognition.
Source:
Teaching
Cohen is the Director of the UCLA/Semel NeuroImaging Training Program (NITP), a federally-sponsored graduate and post-graduate educational program that seeks to bring advances in technology into the broad fields of neuroimaging. In addition to a traditional fellowship program, the NITP includes a two-week immersive workshop on advanced methods in functional MRI. Archived videos of these programs are available on the web.Music
Mark Cohen has performed for many years on guitar, in classical, country-western, blues and jazz styles. He is better known, however, for is work on the pedal steel guitarPedal steel guitar
The pedal steel guitar is a type of electric guitar that uses a metal bar to "fret" or shorten the length of the strings, rather than fingers on strings as with a conventional guitar. Unlike other types of steel guitar, it also uses pedals and knee levers to affect the pitch, hence the name "pedal"...
. Cohen plays frequently with Albert Lee
Albert Lee
Albert William Lee, born 21 December 1943 in Leominster, Herefordshire, England, is an English guitarist known for his fingerstyle and hybrid picking technique. Lee has worked both in the studio and on tour with some of the most famous musicians which stretch through a very wide of genres...
at private parties and appears on his record, "Road Runner."