Our work focuses on malformations of cortical development, which are brain disorders that arise when the normal, complex process of development of the cerebral cortex is disrupted. In these disorders, the anatomy of gray matter and white matter within the brain is abnormal, and many patients with these conditions suffer from epilepsy and other neurological problems. We are interested in the structural and functional consequences of cortical maldevelopment, and we study human subjects using neuroimaging, cognitive testing, and clinical neurophysiological techniques. With these methods, we hope to understand better how epilepsy and learning problems arise in the brain, not just in patients with cortical malformations but also in the broader population of individuals whose brain anatomy appears normal.
Chang BS, Lowenstein DH. Epilepsy. N Engl J Med 2003;349:1257-66.
Chang BS, Piao X, Bodell A, Basel-Vanagaite L, Straussberg R, Dobyns WB, Qasrawi B, Winter RM, Innes AM, Voit T, Grant PE, Barkovich AJ, Walsh CA. Bilateral frontoparietal polymicrogyria: clinical and radiological features in 10 families with linkage to chromosome 16. Ann Neurol 2003;53:596-606.
Chang BS, Ly J, Appignani B, Bodell A, Apse KA, Ravenscroft RS, Sheen VL, Doherty MJ, Hackney DB, O'Connor M, Galaburda AM, Walsh CA. Reading impairment in the neuronal migration disorder of periventricular nodular heterotopia. Neurology 2005;64:799-803.
Chang BS*, Katzir T*, Liu T, Corriveau K, Barzillai M, Apse KA, Bodell A, Hackney D, Alsop D, Wong S, Walsh CA (*equal contributions). A structural basis for reading fluency: white matter defects in a genetic brain malformation. Neurology 2007;69:2146-54.
Selvitelli MF, Krishnamurthy KB, Herzog AG, Schomer DL, Chang BS. Sleep spindle alterations in patients with malformations of cortical development. Brain Dev 2008; in press.
External Recognition:
Finance Committee, American Epilepsy Society
Clinical Investigator Training Program Fellowship, Harvard-MIT HST
K23 Career Development Award, NIH/NINDS
Mind Brain Behavior Interfaculty Initiative Award, Harvard University
Major Collaborative Activities:
Collaborations with:
other members of Neurology department, BIDMC
David Hackney, M.D., Neuroradiology, BIDMC
Christopher Walsh, M.D., Ph.D., Neurogenetics, BIDMC/HHMI and Children's
Joanna Christodoulou, Harvard Graduate School of Education
