Li Min Chen, MD, Ph.D.

Professor
Radiology & Radiological Sciences, Psychology and Biomedical Engineering
Phone
(615)936-7069

Dr. Chen's research centers on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying pain and touch, and the role of plasticity in mediating functional and behavioral recovery after spinal cord injury. She is also actively engaged in developing a Focused Ultrasound neuromodulation method for dissecting pain and touch circuits in non-human primates. Dr. Chen takes a multi-model approach in her research. Her lab routinely uses functional MRI, advanced multiparametric MRI, electrical and focused ultrasound neuromodulation, in vivo electrophysiology, tract tracing histology, and behavioral assessments in rodents and nonhuman primates.

Research Information

Chaplin V, Phipps MA, Jonathan SV, Grissom WA, Yang PF, Chen LM, Caskey CF. On the accuracy of optically tracked transducers for image-guided transcranial ultrasound. Int J Comput Assist Radiol Surg [print-electronic]. 2019 Aug; 14(8): 1317-27. PMID: 31069643, PII: 10.1007/s11548-019-01988-0, DOI: 10.1007/s11548-019-01988-0, ISSN: 1861-6429.

Shi Z, Wilkes DM, Yang PF, Wang F, Wu R, Wu TL, Chen LM, Gore JC. On the Relationship between MRI and Local Field Potential Measurements of Spatial and Temporal Variations in Functional Connectivity. Sci Rep. 2019 Jun 6/20/2019; 9(1): 8871. PMID: 31222020, PMCID: PMC6586888, PII: 10.1038/s41598-019-45404-8, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-45404-8, ISSN: 2045-2322.

Wu TL, Yang PF, Wang F, Shi Z, Mishra A, Wu R, Chen LM, Gore JC. Intrinsic functional architecture of the non-human primate spinal cord derived from fMRI and electrophysiology. Nat Commun. 2019 Mar 3/29/2019; 10(1): 1416. PMID: 30926817, PMCID: PMC6440970, PII: 10.1038/s41467-019-09485-3, DOI: 10.1038/s41467-019-09485-3, ISSN: 2041-1723.

Mishra A, Majumdar S, Wang F, Wilson GH, Gore JC, Chen LM. Functional connectivity with cortical depth assessed by resting state fMRI of subregions of S1 in squirrel monkeys. Hum Brain Mapp [print-electronic]. 2019 Jan; 40(1): 329-39. PMID: 30251760, PMCID: PMC6289644, DOI: 10.1002/hbm.24375, ISSN: 1097-0193.

Yang PF, Phipps MA, Newton AT, Chaplin V, Gore JC, Caskey CF, Chen LM. Neuromodulation of sensory networks in monkey brain by focused ultrasound with MRI guidance and detection. Sci Rep. 2018 May 5/22/2018; 8(1): 7993. PMID: 29789605, PMCID: PMC5964220, PII: 10.1038/s41598-018-26287-7, DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-26287-7, ISSN: 2045-2322.