Alberto L. Vazquez, PhD

  • Research Associate Professor

Phone

Phone: N/A

E-mail

alv15@pitt.edu

Personal Website

website link

Campus Address

MIRM Room 159

One-Line Research Description

Imaging of neuronal, metabolic and vascular function and dysfunction

My research focuses on neural, vascular and metabolic imaging of normal brain function in vivo with extensions to neurological pathologies, especially Alzheimer’s disease.  I use an array of computational and optical methodologies, such as linear/non-linear modeling and characterization of biological sytems, optical/fluorescence imaging, two-photon microscopy, calcium imaging, optogenetics and magnetic resonance imaging, to assess nervous system function and dysfunction.  Although these methods are mostly implemented in animal models, I focus on methods that can be adapted or applied to humans (e.g. PET or fMRI).  It is the goal to blend imaging modalities in order to advance our understanding of brain function and create new avenues for the quantification of physiological and functional parameters that can be used to study, diagnose and/or treat brain pathologies. 

Representative Publications

Vazquez AL, Fukuda M, Tasker ML, Masamoto K, Kim SG. “Changes in arterial, tissue and venous cerebral oxygenation with evoked neural stimulation: Implications for hemoglobin-based functional neuroimaging”, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 30:428-39 (2010).  PMID: 19844241  PMC2900190

 

Vazquez AL, Fukuda M, Kim SG.  “Evolution of the dynamic changes in functional cerebral oxidative metabolism from tissue mitochondria to blood oxygen”, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 32:745-58 (2012). PMID: 22293987, PMC3318152

 

Kozai TD, Vazquez AL, Weaver CL, Kim SG, Cui XT.  “In vivo two-photon microscopy reveals immediate microglial reaction to implantation of microelectrode through extension of processes”, Journal of Neural Engineering, 17: 9 (2012)

 

Fukuda M, Vazquez AL, Zong X, Kim SG. “Effects of the a(2)-adrenergic receptor agonist dexmedetomidine on neural, vascular and BOLD fMRI responses in rat somato-sensory cortex”, European Journal of Neuroscience, 37: 80-95 (2013). PMID: 23106361 PMC3538949

 

Kozai TD, Catt K, Gugel ZV, Olafsson VT, Vazquez AL, Cui XT. “Mechanical Failure Modes of Chronically Implanted Planar Silicone-based Neural Probes for Laminar Recording”, Biometarials, 37C: 25-39 (2014). PMID: 25453935

 

Vazquez AL, Fukuda M, Crowley JC, Kim SG. “Neural and Hemodynamic Responses Elicited by Forelimb- and Photo-stimulation in Channelrhodopsin-2 Mice: Insights into the Hemodynamic Point Spread Function”, Cerebral Cortex, 24: 2908-19 (2014).  PMID: 23761666  PMC4193461.

 

Vazquez AL, Murphy M, Kim SG. “Neural and Physiological Correlation to Hemodynamic Resting-state Oscillations in Health and Disease”, Brain Connectivity, 4: 727-740 (2014).  PMID: 25300278  PMC4238243

 

Kozai TDY, Vazquez AL.  “Photoelectric Artefact from Optogenetics and Imaging on Microelectrodes and Bioelectronics: New Challenges and Opportunities”, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, 3(25):4965-78 (2015).

 

Iordanova B, Vazquez AL, Poplowski AJ, Fukuda M, Kim SG. “Neural and Hemodynamic Responses to Optogenetic and Sensory Stimulation in the Rat Somatosensory Cortex”, Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 35:922-32 (2015)

 

Kozai TD, Jaquins-Gerstl A, Vazquez AL, Michael AC, Cui XT. “Brain Tissue Responses to Neural Implants Impact Signal Sensitivity and Intervention Strategies”, ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 6: 48- 67 (2015). PMID: 25546652

 

Kozai TDY, Eels J, Vazquez AL, Cui XT.  “Two-photon Imaging of Chronically Implanted Neural Electrodes: Sealing Methods and New Insights”, Journal of Neuroscience Methods, 258:46-55 (2016).  PMID: 26526459 PMC4771525

 

Vasireddi AK, Vazquez AL, Whitney DE, Fukuda M, Kim SG. “Functional Connectivity of Resting Hemodynamic Signals in Submillimeter Orientation Columns of the Visual Cortex”, Brain Connectivity, 6:596-606 (2016)

 

Eles JR, Vazquez AL, Snyder NR, Lagenaur C, Murphy MC, Kozai TDK, Cui XT. “Neuroadhesive L1 attenuates acute microglial attachment to neural electrodes as revealed by live two-photon microscopy”, Biomaterials,113:279-292 (2017).

 

Li L, Polyuak SM, Watkins SC, St. Croix CM, Alexander H, Gibson GA, Loughran PA, Kirisci L, Clark RSB, Kochanek PM, Vazquez AL, Manole MD. “Cerebral microcirculatory alterations and no-reflow phenomenon in vivo after experimental pediatric cardiac arrest”, JCBFM, 2017. 

 

Foley LM, Clark RS, Vazquez AL, Hitchens TK, Alexander H, Ho C, Kochanek PM, Manole MD. “Enduring disturbances in regional cerebral blood flow and brain oxygenation at 24 h after asphyxia cardiac arrest in developing rats”. Pediatric Research, 81:94-98 (2017). PMID: 27636898

 

Murphy MC, Chan KC, Kim SG, Vazquez AL. “Macroscale variation in resting-state neuronal activity and connectivity assessed by simultaneous calcium imaging, hemodynamic imaging and electrophysiology”, Neuroimage, 169:352-62 (2018).

 

Masamoto K, Vazquez AL. “Optical imaging and modulation of neurovascular responses”. JCBFM 38(12):2057–2072 (2018). PMID: 30334644

 

Michelson NJ, Vazquez AL, Eles JR, Salatino JW, Purcell EK, Williams JJ, Cui XT, Kozai TDY. “Multi-scale, multi-modal analysis uncovers complex relationship at the brain tissue-implant neural interface: new emphasis on the biological interface”. J Neural Eng 15(3):33 (2018). PMID: 291821149

 

Iordanova B, Vazquez A, Kozai TD, Fukuda M, Kim SG. “Optogenetic investigation of the variable neurovascular coupling along the interhemispheric circuits”. J Cereb Blood Flow Metab 38(4);627- 640 (2018). doi: 10.1177/0271678X18755225. PMID: 29372655 PMCID: PMC5888863

 

Vazquez AL, Fukuda M, Kim SG. “Inhibitory neuron activity contributions to hemodynamic responses and metabolic load examined using an inhibitory optogenetic mouse model”. Cerebral Cortex, in press (2018).

 

Li L, Polyuak SM, Watkins SC, St. Croix CM, Alexander H, Gibson GA, Loughran PA, Kirisci L, Clark RSB, Kochanek PM, Vazquez AL, Manole MD. “Cerebral microcirculatory alterations and no- reflow phenomenon in vivo after experimental pediatric cardiac arrest”, JCBFM, in press. PMID: 29192562

 

Baranov SV, Baranova OV, Yablonska S, Suofu Y, Vazquez AL, Kozai TDY, Cui XT, Ferrando LM, Larkin TM, Tyurina YY, Kagan VE, Carlisle DL, Kristal BS, Friedlander RM. “Mitochondria modulate programmed neuritic retraction. “. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, in press. PMID: 30584104

 

Michelson NJ, Eles JR, Vazquez AL, Ludwig KA, Kozai TDY. “Calcium activation of cortical neurons by continuous electrical stimulation: Frequency dependence, temporal fidelity, and activation density”. J Neurosci Res. in press. PMID: 30585651