Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, PhD

Laboratories

Associate Professor
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Phone: 410-328-0235
Email: bhanna-pladdy@som.umaryland.edu

Biosketch

My primary research interests are in age-related cognitive decline, and cognitive aspects of skilled movements in stroke and neurodegenerative disease utilizing neuropsychological, behavioral, kinematic and functional neuroimaging techniques. Through experiments with patients with unilateral stroke, we characterized subtypes of limb apraxia based on lesion location to elucidate the distributed modular network subserving complex movements and the bilateral nature of spatiotemporal aspects of skilled movements. Recent work has focused on multisensory models of cognitive compensation and stimulation that offer promise for harnessing plasticity in aging and functional recovery following stroke. Ongoing research in Parkinson’s disease (PD) focuses on mild cognitive impairment, and supports pathophysiological mechanisms in PD extending outside the nigrostriatal circuit, providing a basis for non-dopaminergic biomarkers signaling early cognitive progression

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Research Projects

Neuroimaging and Cognitive Markers in Parkinson's Disease

This is a 5 year NIH-funded study supported by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

The goal is to evaluate functional, genetic and cognitive markers of patients with early cognitive progression in Parkinson’s disease.

Lab Members

Principle Investigator:

Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, PhD
Associate Professor
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Tel: 410-328-0235
Email: bhanna-pladdy@som.umaryland.edu

Co-Investigators:

Rao P. Gullapalli, PhD, MBA
Professor
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Associate Vice Chair for Research & Member of the Department's Executive Leadership Committee
Director, Core for Translational Research in Imaging @ Maryland (C-TRIM)
Director, Center for Metabolic Imaging and Therapeutics (CMIT)
Tel: 410-328-2099
Email: rgullapalli@umm.edu

Linda Chang, MD, MS, FAAN
Professor and Vice Chair of Faculty Development
Department of Diagnostic Radiology and Nuclear Medicine
Email: linda.chang@umm.edu

Research Staff

Li Jiang, PhD
Research Associate
Department of Diagnostic Radiology & Nuclear Medicine
University of Maryland School of Medicine