Boris Bernhardt is a cognitive scientist with expertise in neuroimaging, network neuroscience, and statistical learning. He joined McGill as Assistant Professor of Neurology and Neurosurgery in 2016 and heads the Multimodal Imaging and Connectome Analysis Lab ().
His group develops integrative analytics to study large-scale brain organization, connectivity, and neurodevelopment. One focus is the study of individual differences in connectome architecture in developing and adult populations, and the relation to variability in high-level cognition and socio-affective competences. His team studies healthy and diseased populations, notably drug-resistant epilepsy and autism spectrum disorders, two common and persistent conditions of early onset.
Bernhardt's research is funded by NSERC, FRQS, SickKids Foundation and CIHR. He serves as Academic Editor for PLoS One and Frontiers in Psychiatry. His contributions to neuroimaging and connectome analysis of healthy and diseased brains were recognized by several awards, including the 2017 Michael Prize of the International League Against Epilepsy.
Selected Publications
Adler, S., Hong, S. J., Liu, M., Baldeweg, T., Cross, J. H., Bernasconi, A., . . . Bernasconi, N. (2018). Topographic principles of cortical fluid-attenuated inversion recovery signal in temporal lobe epilepsy. Epilepsia, 59(3), 627-635. 10.1111/epi.14017
Whelan, C. D., Altmann, A., Botia, J. A., Jahanshad, N., Hibar, D. P., Absil, J., . . . Sisodiya, S. M. (2018). Structural brain abnormalities in the common epilepsies assessed in a worldwide ENIGMA study. Brain : A Journal of Neurology, 141(2), 391-408. 10.1093/brain/awx341
Bernhardt, B. C., Di Martino, A., Valk, S. L., & Wallace, G. L. (2017). Neuroimaging-based phenotyping of the autism spectrum. Current Topics in Behavioral Neurosciences, 30, 341-355. 10.1007/7854_2016_438
Bernhardt, B. C., Fadaie, F., Vos de Wael, R., Hong, S. J., Liu, M., Guiot, M. C., . . . Bernasconi, N. (2017). Preferential susceptibility of limbic cortices to microstructural damage in temporal lobe epilepsy: A quantitative T1 mapping study. Neuroimage, S1053-8119(17)30471-8
Hong, S. J., Valk, S. L., Di Martino, A., Milham, M. P., & Bernhardt, B. C. (2017). Multidimensional neuroanatomical subtyping of autism spectrum disorder. Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y.: 1991), , 1-11. 10.1093/cercor/bhx229
Valk, S. L., Bernhardt, B. C., Bockler, A., Trautwein, F. M., Kanske, P., & Singer, T. (2017). Socio-cognitive phenotypes differentially modulate large-scale structural covariance networks. Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y.: 1991), 27(2), 1358-1368. 10.1093/cercor/bhv319
Bernhardt, B. C., Bernasconi, A., Liu, M., Hong, S. J., Caldairou, B., Goubran, M., . . . Bernasconi, N. (2016). The spectrum of structural and functional imaging abnormalities in temporal lobe epilepsy. Annals of Neurology, 80(1), 142-153. 10.1002/ana.24691
Bernhardt, B. C., Bernasconi, N., Hong, S. J., Dery, S., & Bernasconi, A. (2016). Subregional mesiotemporal network topology is altered in temporal lobe epilepsy. Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y.: 1991), 26(7), 3237-3248. 10.1093/cercor/bhv166
Bernhardt, B. C., Bonilha, L., & Gross, D. W. (2015). Network analysis for a network disorder: The emerging role of graph theory in the study of epilepsy. Epilepsy & Behavior : E&B, 50, 162-170. 10.1016/j.yebeh.2015.06.005
Bernhardt, B. C., Hong, S. J., Bernasconi, A., & Bernasconi, N. (2015). Magnetic resonance imaging pattern learning in temporal lobe epilepsy: Classification and prognostics. Annals of Neurology, 77(3), 436-446. 10.1002/ana.24341
Valk, S. L., Di Martino, A., Milham, M. P., & Bernhardt, B. C. (2015). Multicenter mapping of structural network alterations in autism. Human Brain Mapping, 36(6), 2364-2373. 10.1002/hbm.22776
Bernhardt, B. C., Valk, S. L., Silani, G., Bird, G., Frith, U., & Singer, T. (2014). Selective disruption of sociocognitive structural brain networks in autism and alexithymia. Cerebral Cortex (New York, N.Y.: 1991), 24(12), 3258-3267. 10.1093/cercor/bht182
Bernhardt, B. C., & Singer, T. (2012). The neural basis of empathy. Annual Review of Neuroscience, 35, 1-23. 10.1146/annurev-neuro-062111-150536
Steinbeis, N., Bernhardt, B. C., & Singer, T. (2012). Impulse control and underlying functions of the left DLPFC mediate age-related and age-independent individual differences in strategic social behavior. Neuron, 73(5), 1040-1051. 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.12.027
