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Christopher Evans  B.Sc (Bristol) Ph.D. (Exeter) CPhys

Dr Christopher Evans

B.Sc (Bristol) Ph.D. (Exeter) CPhys

MRI Lab Manager

School of Psychology

Overview

Research summary

As the Chief Physicist of the Magnetic Resonance lab in  CUBRIC, I am responsible for the optimisation of our 3 Tesla MR system for use  as a tool for neuroimaging research, for example by the implementation of novel  pulse sequences.  This role also involves  advising on experimental design and analysis across the whole range of MR  methods – structural and functional imaging and Spectroscopy.

My research interests include:

MR Spectroscopy

Evaluating the robustness       of GABA measurement in vivo.

The optimisation of analysis methods for GABA spectra, and the development of a toolkit for       the analysis of       GABA data (Gannet)

TMS-MRI.

Working on hardware       improvements to allow the integration of transcranial magnetic stimulation       into the MR environment for simultaneous TMS and functional MRI.

Publication

2024

2023

2022

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2019

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2016

2015

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2006

Articles

Research

Research topics and related papers

Repeatability of GABA Spectroscopy

There is a significant amount of research demonstrating that the inhibitory neurotransmitter γ-aminobutyric  acid (GABA) is a useful biomarker for psychiatric disorders. Recently, work  at the School of Psychology at Cardiff has demonstrated that the measurement of GABA concentration in the human brain is sufficiently sensitive to explain  individual differences in a variety of  behavioural tasks (e.g.  Sumner et al,   Nature Neuroscience, 2010, Boy et. al. Current Biology, 2010), and in  personality traits (Boy et. al. Biological Psychiatry, 2011).

However, the measurement of neurotransmitters using edited  MR spectroscopy is inherently insensitive, compared with imaging techniques.

For example, the concentration of GABA is approximately 50,000 times lower than the concentration of water, resulting in longer experiment times  and  larger voxel sizes than are achievable in imaging experiments. As a  result, characterising the robustness of the experiment is very important,  particularly as this can vary significantly between brain regions.  

Gannet

As part of this research, I have been optimising the analysis method for GABA spectroscopy and, along with Richard Edden (Johns  Hopkins University, Baltimore) we have incorporated this into a set of  Matlab-based tools (the  GABA Analysis Toolkit, "Gannet") which is currently being distributed to collaborating  sites, prior to general release [link].

Research collaborators

Fred Boy
Chris Chambers
Richard Edden (Johns  Hopkins University, Baltimore)
Derek Jones
Paul Keedwell
David Linden
David McGonigle
Suresh  Muthukumaraswamy
Nick Puts (Johns  Hopkins University, Baltimore)
Krish Singh
Petroc Sumner
Richard Wise

Biography

Undergraduate education

1995 B.Sc in Physics (University of Bristol)

Postgraduate education

1999 Ph.D. in Physics (University of Exeter)
2002 Chartered Physicist (Institute of Physics)

Employment

2007-present.       Chief Physicist, CUBRIC, School of Psychology, Cardiff University,  UK
2004-2007.          MR  Physicist, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, UK
2000-2004.          MR  System Design Engineer, GE Healthcare, Abingdon, Oxford, UK
1999-2000.          MR  System Design Engineer, Magnex Scientific, Abingdon, Oxford, UK