Likova Lab
Brain Plasticity, Learning & Neurorehabilitation
The main areas of my research are neuroplasticity, brain mechanisms of art and learning, blindness rehabilitation through cognitive and spatiomotor training, vision deficits in TBI, and multimodal sensorimotor processing in the blind and the sighted. My lab takes an interdisciplinary approach that incorporates multiple brain imaging techniques including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), functional MRI (fMRI) coupled with a unique multimodal motion-capture system, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), tensor-based brain morphometry (TBM), and electroencephalography (EEG).
Tabs
Journal Articles
. (2020). Differences in the major fiber-tracts of people with congenital and acquired blindness. Imaging Science & Technology / Human Vision And Electronic Imaging 2020. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2020.11.HVEI-366
. (2019). Learning face perception without vision: Rebound learning effect and hemispheric differences in congenital vs late-onset blindness. Imaging Science And Technology: Human Vision And Electronic Imaging. http://doi.org/10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2019.12.HVEI-237 Human Vision and Electronic Imaging 2019
. (2018). Fiber-tract differences in people with congenital and acquired blindness. Journal Of Vision, (18(10).
. (2018). Haptic aesthetics in the blind: Behavioral and fMRI investigation. Imaging Science And Technology: Human Vision And Electronic Imaging, 532: 1-10. http://doi.org/DOI: 10.2352/ISSN.2470-1173.2018.14.HVEI-532
. (2018). Brain reorganization in adulthood underlying a rapid switch in handedness induced by training in memory-guided drawing. Neuroplasticity Ed. Chaban V. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.76317
. (2018). When light hurts: Comparative morphometry of human brainstem in traumatic photalgia. Nature Scientific Reports, 8(1):6256. http://doi.org/doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-24386-z
. (2018). Transfer of Learning in People Who Are Blind: Enhancement of Spatial-Cognitive Abilities through Drawing. Journal Of Visual Impairment & Blindness, 4(112). Retrieved from https://www.afb.org/jvib/Newjvibabstract.asp?articleid=jvib120406
. (2018). Comparative tensor-based morphometry of human brainstem in traumatic photophobia. Nature: Scientific Reports, (6256). Retrieved from https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-24386-z
. (2017). Studying the Retinal Source of Photophobia by Facial Electroretinography. Optometry And Vision Science, 94(4). http://doi.org/10.1097/OPX.0000000000001064 PMID: 28338564
. (2017). Memory-guided drawing training increases Granger causal influences from the perirhinal cortex to V1 in the blind. Neurobiology Of Learning And Memory, 141. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.nlm.2017.03.013 PMID: 28347878 PMCID: PMC 5488874
Conference Papers
. Face perception as a multisensory process. In Multisensory and Crossmodal Interactions, at IS&T HVEI. Multisensory and Crossmodal Interactions, at IS&T HVEI: Burlingame, California. Retrieved from https://www.imaging.org/site/IST/Conferences/EI/EI_2020/Conference/C_HVEI.aspx
Presentations/Posters
. (2020). Rapid training of supramodal spatial cognition and memory for improved navigation in low vision and blindness. ARVO Issue abstract 2020. ARVO 2020. Retrieved from https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2766791&resultClick=1
. (2019). Is the face schema innate? Evidence from learning faces in the congenital blind. Retrieved from SfN
. (2019). Top-down control of spatial memory visualization in early visual cortex. Retrieved from VSS, Fl
. (2018). Brain plasticity and art. Retrieved from Guangzhou Technology Institute
. (2018). Fiber-tract differences in people with congenital and acquired blindness. http://doi.org/10.1167/18.10.543
Other Publications
. (2014). The neurometabolic underpinnings of fMRI BOLD dynamics. In Advanced Brain Neuroimaging Topics in Health and Disease-Methods and Applications:. InTech. http://doi.org/10.5772/58274
. (2018). Memory drawing and learning in the class room. Retrieved from Southern China Normal University, Guangzhou
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Smith-Kettlewell Brain Imaging Center
View CenterThe Smith-Kettlewell Brain Imaging Center supports a wide variety of human brain imaging modalities, including MRI, MRI morphometry, functional MRI, fMR Iretonogrphy, fMRI dynamics, functional conn
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Harnessing the Power of Drawing for the Enhancement of Learning across Levels of Vision Function
Read MoreRecent scientific findings about art and drawing suggest that drawing can facilitate learning in a wide variety of domains. The proposed collaboration will develop an interdisciplinary research program aimed at harnessing the power of drawing to enhance learning across fields of intellectual endeavor.
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ActiveAdvanced Spatiomotor Rehabilitation for Navigation in Blindness & Visual Impairment
Read MoreSuccessful navigation requires the development of an accurate and flexible mental, or cognitive, map of the navigational space and of the route trajectory required to travel from the current to the target location. The Cognitive-Kinesthetic (C-K) Rehabilitation Training that we have developed in the preceding period utilizes a unique form of blind memory-guided drawing to develop cognitive mapping to a high level of proficiency.
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ActiveMechanisms of Photophobia in Mild Traumatic Brain Injury in Human Subjects: Therapeutic Implications
Read MoreThe purpose of this grant is to identify the mechanisms responsible for generating photophobia in p
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ActiveSL-CN: Harnessing the Power of Drawing for the Enhancement of Learning across Levels of Vision Function
Read MoreThis Science of Learning Collaborative Network brings together researchers and experts from th
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CompletedAdvanced Spatiomotor Rehabilitation in Blindness and Visual Impairment
Read MoreWe propose a multidisciplinary approach to effective
Current
- Christopher Tyler - Head, Smith-Kettlewell Brain Imaging Center
- Kristyo Mineff - Research Assistant
- Spero Nicholas - Senior Programmer-Analyst
Past
- Katherine E. M. Tregillus - Postdoctoral Fellow
- Laura Cacciamani - Postdoctoral Fellow
- Ming Mei - Postdoctoral Fellow
- Rezaul Karim - Research Fellow
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Harnessing the power of visual art for blind rehabilitation
A Smith-Kettlewell scientist, Dr. Lora Likova, develops unique art training to drive brain plasticity in totally blind and visually impaired people. A major focus of Dr. Likova’s Lab, “Brain plasticity, learning and neurorehabilitation” is on the investigation of non-invasive methods for driving brain plasticity in the visually impaired. Her recent findings show that a special kind of rapid... -
Dr. Likova's Research on the Power of Drawing Featured in National Endowment for the Arts Webinar
On March 18, 2015, Dr Lora Likova’s work on how learning to draw promotes brain plasticity and can serve blindness rehabilitation was featured in a live National Endowment for the Arts webinar on Visual Arts, Learning, Coping. The webinar was hosted by the National Endowment for the Arts' Federal Interagency Task Force on the Arts and Human Development (an alliance of 19 federal departments,... -
ABCs for Therapists Blog Post about Dr. Likova's Blind Drawing Training
A recent posting on the therapeutic value of the brain reorganization brought about by Lora Likova’s blind drawing training paradigm may be found here: abcsfortherapists.com/drawing-intervention-yields-promising-changes-in-the-brain -
Drawing Enhances Memory and Brain Plasticity Featured in Dana Foundation News
The Dana News Foundation published an online article about the blind training paradigm. -
United Academics Highlights Dr. Likova's Research on Brain Reorganization through Drawing
An online article about the implications of Lora Likova’s work for the visual memory of artists can be seen here.
Principal Investigator:
Contact:
lora@ski.org (415) 345-2066 (415) 345-2087