About My Research
At Schepens Eye Research Institute of Mass Eye and Ear, Dr. Bauer's research focuses on understanding how the visual dysfunctions observed in cortical/cerebral visual impairment (CVI) relate to brain structure and function. During her doctoral studies, she utilized multi-modal neuroimaging techniques in the development of potential biomarkers for monitoring the progression of Alzheimer's disease and mild cognitive impairment. Currently, she applies advanced multimodal MRI techniques to study how the brain adapts vision loss due to both ocular and cerebral causes. Her recent work concentrates on the relationship between brain structure and function with visual processing abilities in individuals living with visual impairment due to early developmental brain damage.
- Aberrant White Matter Development in Cerebral Visual Impairment: A Proposed Mechanism for Visual Dysfunction Following Early Brain Injury. J Integr Neurosci. 2024 Jan 10; 23(1):1.
- Altered neural oscillations underlying visuospatial processing in cerebral visual impairment. Brain Commun. 2023; 5(5):fcad232.
- Motion and form coherence processing in individuals with cerebral visual impairment. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2023 10; 65(10):1379-1386.
- Deficits in Face Recognition and Consequent Quality-of-Life Factors in Individuals with Cerebral Visual Impairment. Vision (Basel). 2023 Jan 25; 7(1).
- Editorial: Cerebral visual impairment, visual development, diagnosis, and rehabilitation. Front Hum Neurosci. 2022; 16:1057401.
- Neural correlates associated with impaired global motion perception in cerebral visual impairment (CVI). Neuroimage Clin. 2021; 32:102821.
- Visual search performance in cerebral visual impairment is associated with altered alpha band oscillations. Neuropsychologia. 2021 10 15; 161:108011.
- Visual perception supported by verbal mediation in an individual with cerebral visual impairment (CVI). Neuropsychologia. 2021 09 17; 160:107982.
- Neuroplasticity in cerebral visual impairment (CVI): Assessing functional vision and the neurophysiological correlates of dorsal stream dysfunction. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2020 01; 108:171-181.
- Neuroplastic reorganization in children with ocular and cerebral visual impairment. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2020 01; 62(1):16.
- Alterations in the Structural and Functional Connectivity of the Visuomotor Network of Children With Periventricular Leukomalacia. Semin Pediatr Neurol. 2019 10; 31:48-56.
- Perspectives on Cerebral Visual Impairment. Semin Pediatr Neurol. 2019 10; 31:1-2.
- The Assessment of Visual Function and Functional Vision. Semin Pediatr Neurol. 2019 10; 31:30-40.
- Early blindness is associated with increased volume of the uncinate fasciculus. Eur J Neurosci. 2018 03; 47(5):427-432.
- Multimodal Discrimination between Normal Aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer's Disease and Prediction of Cognitive Decline. Diagnostics (Basel). 2018 Feb 06; 8(1).
- Age-related changes in structural connectivity are improved using subject-specific thresholding. J Neurosci Methods. 2017 Aug 15; 288:45-56.
- Disentangling How the Brain is Wired in Cortical (Cerebral) Visual Impairment. Semin Pediatr Neurol. 2017 05; 24(2):83-91.
- Seed Location Impacts Whole-Brain Structural Network Comparisons between Healthy Elderly and Individuals with Alzheimer's Disease. Brain Sci. 2017 Apr 06; 7(4).
- Multimodal MR-imaging reveals large-scale structural and functional connectivity changes in profound early blindness. PLoS One. 2017; 12(3):e0173064.
- Cerebral versus Ocular Visual Impairment: The Impact on Developmental Neuroplasticity. Front Psychol. 2016; 7:1958.
- Characterizing Visual Field Deficits in Cerebral/Cortical Visual Impairment (CVI) Using Combined Diffusion Based Imaging and Functional Retinotopic Mapping: A Case Study. Front Syst Neurosci. 2016; 10:13.
- Using structural and functional brain imaging to uncover how the brain adapts to blindness. Ann Neurosci Psychol. 2015; 2.
- The EADC-ADNI Harmonized Protocol for manual hippocampal segmentation on magnetic resonance: evidence of validity. Alzheimers Dement. 2015 Feb; 11(2):111-25.
- Neural correlates associated with superior tactile symmetry perception in the early blind. Cortex. 2015 Feb; 63:104-117.
- Abnormal white matter tractography of visual pathways detected by high-angular-resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) corresponds to visual dysfunction in cortical/cerebral visual impairment. J AAPOS. 2014 Aug; 18(4):398-401.
- It is unclear if adjusting cortical thickness for changes in gray/white matter intensity ratio improves discrimination between normal aging, MCI, and AD. Brain Imaging Behav. 2014 Mar; 8(1):133-40.
- Differentiating between Normal Aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Alzheimer's disease with FDG-PET: Effects of Normalization Region and Partial Volume Correction Method. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease and Parkisonism. 2013; 3:113.
- Age-related relaxo-volumetric quantitative magnetic resonance imaging of the major salivary glands. J Comput Assist Tomogr. 2013 Mar-Apr; 37(2):272-8.
- Whole brain quantitative T2 MRI across multiple scanners with dual echo FSE: applications to AD, MCI, and normal aging. Neuroimage. 2010 Aug 15; 52(2):508-14.
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With the increasing prevalence of neurodevelopmental disorders, it is imperative to better understand the relationship between brain damage and behavioural changes, as well as determine the brain’s ability to compensate for its injuries. This remains a challenge in part because brain injuries can damage multiple tissue types, impacting processing within multiple sensory and cognitive domains.
To this end, Dr. Bauer’s research program focuses on using a unique combination of multiple neuroimaging techniques to study the changes in brain structure, function, and connectivity that occur in neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders and determining how these relate to specific changes in sensory, cognitive, and behavioral function.
She collaborates with a number of investigators at Northeastern University, Boston Children’s Hospital, the Center for Biomedical Imaging at Boston University School of Medicine, and the Perkins School for the Blind.
Neuroplasticity in Early Ocular Blindness
The goal of this study is to understand the neuroplastic changes in brain morphometry, structural connectivity, and functional connectivity that occur in the context of early-onset ocular blindness.
Visual Attention in Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment
The goal of this study is to characterize the deficits in visual attention that are observed in individuals with CVI. This study also aims to determine the neural correlates of visual attention deficits associated with CVI.
Neuroplastic Changes in Cortical/Cerebral Visual Impairment
The goal of this study is to determine the neuroplastic changes in brain morphometry, structural connectivity, and functional connectivity that occur in adolescents with CVI and relate these to specific visual deficits.
Long-Term Neurodevelopmental Consequences of Periventricular Leukomalacia
The goal of this study is to elucidate the brain’s long-term ability to compensate for neonatal hypoxic-ischaemic brain injury in preterm infants.
Assessing Myelination with Magnetic Resonance Imaging
The goal of this project is to develop a pipeline of MRI techniques to monitor and assess myelination of white matter in typical development, as well as in the context of early developmental brain injury.