Projects

Gordon Precision Neuroimaging Lab

Understanding and Mapping Novel Aspects of Human Brain Organization

The human brain is organized into a series of large-scale brain networks that enable sensation, action, and complex cognition. We aim to map these brain networks in the finest possible detail, including their relationship with brain structure and their representation in cortex and subcortical structures. We are able to identify new features of brain network organization that have never before been characterized.

Gordon et al., 2023, Nature

Badke D’Andrea et al., 2025, PNAS

Gordon et al., 2022, Cerebral Cortex

How Our Team Overturned the 90-Year-Old Metaphor of a ‘Little Man’ in the Brain Who Controls Movement (via Scientific American)

New data shows that an old model of the brain’s motor cortex is incomplete (via NPR)

How Does The Brain Control Your Every Move? (via Science Friday)

‘Neurosalience’ podcast episode (via OHBM)

Scientists identify mind-body nexus in human brain (via Reuters)

Famous ‘homunculus’ brain map redrawn to include complex movements (via Nature)

New Brain Network Connecting Mind and Body Discovered (via The Scientist)

The classic map of how the human brain manages movement gets an update (via ScienceNews)

The Gordon Precision Neuroimaging Lab identified a new somato-cognitive action network within primary motor cortex. It consists of three interconnected patches interspersed between the known effector-specific regions for control of the feet, hands, and face. — We identified a new somato-cognitive action network within primary motor cortex. It consists of three interconnected patches interspersed between the known effector-specific regions for control of the feet, hands, and face.

Individual Variability in Brain Organization

Individuals exhibit substantial inter-individual variability in the size, location, and connectivity of their brain networks. This project aims to characterize those differences, and ultimately to link variability in brain networks to individual differences in personality and mental abilities.

Gordon et al., 2017, Cerebral Cortex

Gordon et al., 2017, NeuroImage

Rajesh et al., 2024, Cerebral Cortex

Individuals exhibit substantial anatomical variation in the locations of their brain networks. If this variation is not taken into account, it can introduce uncertainty into brain network measurements.

Methods Development for Precision Neuroimaging

We are actively developing novel approaches to precisely map functional brain networks in individual humans. These efforts include characterizing, modeling, and predicting the within-individual reliability of brain network measures; improving mapping of brain networks into deep structures including the diencephalon and brainstem; and mapping brain networks at high resolution using 7-tesla imaging.

Gordon et al., 2017, Neuron

We developed approaches for precisely mapping brain networks within individual humans by collecting large quantities of data within each person. This revealed features of brain networks present within many individuals (arrows) that do not appear in group average network maps (top).

Precision Neuroimaging of Parkinson’s Disease

Parkinson’s Disease is classically considered a “movement” disorder, yet Parkinson’s symptoms also include deficits in initiating actions, continuing actions once begun (e.g. “gait freezing”), and motivation. We are testing whether specific brain circuits we have identified in healthy controls that link motivation to action to movement may explain the range of Parkinson’s symptoms. We are further evaluating whether these circuits may serve as ideal targets for neuromodulation therapies.

Ren et al., 2026, Nature

The somato-cognitive action network is the key cortical locus of dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease. It exhibits hyperconnectivity with striatal, thalamic, and brainstem structures known to be affected by PD.

Brain Network Changes After Traumatic Brain Injury

Traumatic brain injuries damage the white matter fibers linking networked brain regions, disrupting brain processing and affecting cognition, emotion, and sensation. In many patients, recovery from a TBI can take months or even years. We are using neuroimaging to longitudinally track patients who have suffered from a TBI to better understand how these recovery processes play out in the brain.

Rajesh et al., 2025, biorxiv

White matter fibers are progressively altered over the course of a six-month recovery period following a traumatic brain injury.

Neuroimaging of Dystonia

Dystonia is caused by abnormal brain function in circuits linking the cerebral cortex to the striatum and cerebellum. We are precisely mapping those circuits in individual patients and characterizing how a common treatment for dystonia alters their function and their connectivity.