2. Profile
  3. Shaolin Yang

Shaolin Yang PhD

Shaolin Yang
Designation
  • Research Associate Professor in Psychiatry, Radiology, and Bioengineering
  • Director of Neuro Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy in Psychiatry
  • Director of Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy Research Laboratory
Contact Information
  • shaolin [at] uic.edu
  • School of Public Health / Psychiatric Institute (SPHPI)
    1601 W. Taylor St.
    SPHPI MC 912
    Chicago IL 60612

Dr. Yang received training in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and spectroscopy (MRS) at Cornell University Weill Medical College, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, and National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)/National Institutes of Health (NIH), respectively, where he developed new 1H MR spectroscopy methods (including optimized 1D spectroscopy, 2D J-resolved spectroscopy and correlation spectroscopy, and spectral editing) to noninvasively measure neurotransmitters Glutamate and GABA and other metabolites such as Glutamine and Glutathione in study of normal brain function, brain development and aging, neurological and psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, HIV, and type 2 diabetes. He also developed methods in real-time functional MRI (fMRI) for neurofeedback, magnetization transfer (MT) imaging to examine the integrity of white matter and gray matter, perfusion MRI for measurement of cerebral blood flow and volume, resting-state fMRI methods to study functional connectivity, and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) to probe microstructural abnormalities of white matter tracts in the brain. The goal is to integrate these multimodal neuroimaging approaches (MRS, MT, fMRI, and DWI) to study brain function and develop efficient therapies for treatment of neurological and psychiatric disorders, substance abuse, HIV, and type 2 diabetes. Dr. Yang moved from NIDA/NIH to UIC at the end of 2009.

  • psychiatry

    Brain development and aging, major depression, late-life depression, substance abuse and HIV, type 2 diabetes, anxiety disorders, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, magnetization transfer imaging, functional magnetic resonance imaging, and diffusion weighted imaging
  • Brain development and aging, type 2 diabetes and major depression, late-life depression, anxiety disorders, drug abuse, HIV, fatty liver diseases, and technical development in MRI/MRS

  • Yang S*, Wu M, Ajilore O, Lamar M, and Kumar A*, “Impaired biophysical integrity of macromolecular protein pools in the uncinate circuit in late-life depression”, Molecular Psychiatry, vol. 24, no. 12, pp. 1844-1855, 2019 (* corresponding author).

    Wu M, Fatukasi O, Yang S, Alger J, Barker PB, Hetherington H, Kim T, Levine A, Martin E, Munro CA, Parrish T, Ragin A, Sacktor N, Seaberg E, Becker JT, for the Neuropsychology Working Group of the Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study, “HIV disease and diabetes interact to affect brain white matter hyperintensities and cognition”, AIDS, vol. 32, pp. 1803-1810, 2018.

    Wu M, Fang L, Ray C, Kumar A, Yang S*, “Adaptively optimized combination (AOC) of phased-array MR spectroscopy data in the presence of correlated noise: Compared with noise-decorrelated or whitened methods”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, vol. 78, no. 3, pp. 848-859, 2017 (* corresponding author).

    Karstens A, Ajilore O, Rubin LH, Yang S, Zhang A, Leow A, Kumar A, Lamar M, “Investigating the separate and interactive associations of urban trauma and depression on brain structure: Implications for cognition and aging”, International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol. 32, no. 11, pp. 1190-1199, 2017.

    Gonzales MM, Ajilore O, Charlton RC, Cohen J, Yang S, Sieg E, Kumar A, Lamar M, “Divergent influences of cardiovascular disease risk factor domains on cognition, grey and white matter morphology”, Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 79, no. 5, pp. 541-548, 2017.

    Yang S*, Wu M, Ajilore O, Lamar M, and Kumar A*, “Metabolic aberrations impact biophysical integrity of macromolecular protein pools in the default mode network”, Diabetes, vol. 65, no. 11, pp. 3464-3472, 2016 (* corresponding author).

    Wu M, Kumar A, and Yang S*, “Development and aging of superficial white matter myelin from young adulthood to old age: Mapping by vertex-based surface statistics (VBSS)”, Human Brain Mapping, vol. 37, pp. 1759-1769, 2016 (* corresponding author).

    Fang L, Wu M, Ke H, Kumar A, Yang S*, “Adaptively optimized combination (AOC) of magnetic resonance spectroscopy data from phased array coils”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, vol. 75, pp. 2235-2244, 2016 (* corresponding author).

    Kumar A, Yang S, Ajilore O, Wu M, Cohen J, Lamar M, and Bhaumik D, “Biophysical changes in subcortical nuclei: The impact of diabetes and major depression”, Molecular Psychiatry, vol. 21, pp. 531-536, 2016.

    Lamar M, Ajilore O, Leow A, Charlton R, Cohen J, GadElkarim J, Yang S, Zhang A, Davis R, Penney D, Libon DJ, Kumar A, “Cognitive and connectome properties detectable through individual differences in graphomotor organization”, Neuropsychologia, vol. 85, pp. 301-309, 2016.

    Yang S*, Ajilore O, Wu M, Lamar M, and Kumar A*, “Impaired macromolecular protein pools in fronto-striato-thalamic circuits in type 2 diabetes revealed by magnetization transfer imaging”, Diabetes, vol. 64, no. 1, pp. 183-192, 2015 (* corresponding author).

    Yang S*, Belcher A*, Chefer S, Vaupel DB, Schindler C, Stein EA, Yang Y, “Withdrawal from long-term methamphetamine self-administration ‘normalizes’ neurometabolites in rhesus monkeys: A 1H MR spectroscopy study”, Addiction Biology, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 69-79, 2015  (* equal contribution to this paper).

    Wijtenburg SA, Yang S, Fischera BA, Rowland LM, “In vivo assessment of neurotransmitters and modulators with magnetic resonance spectroscopy: application to schizophrenia”, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, vol. 51, pp. 276-295, 2015.

    Ye AQ, Zhang L, Conrin S, GadElKarim J, Zhang A, Yang S, Feusner JD, Kumar A, Ajilore OA, Leow A, “Measuring embeddedness: Hierarchical scale-dependent information exchange efficiency of the human brain connectome”, Human Brain Mapping, vol. 36, pp. 3653-3665, 2015.

    Tadayonnejad R, Yang S, Kumar A, and Ajilore O, “Clinical, cognitive and functional connectivity correlations of the amplitude of resting-state intrinsic neural activity alterations in unmedicated depression”, Journal of Affective Disorders, vol. 172, pp. 241-250, 2015.

    Ye AQ, Ajilore OA, Conte G, GadElkarim J, Thomas-Ramos G, Yang S, Kumar A, Magin RL, Forbes A, Leow AD, “The intrinsic geometry of the human brain connectome”, Brain Informatics, vol. 2, no. 4, pp. 197-210, 2015.

    Lamar M, Rubin L, Ajilore O, Zhang A, Yang S, Cohen J, Kumar A, “What metabolic syndrome contributes to brain outcomes in African American and Caucasian cohorts”, Current Alzheimer Research, vol. 12, pp. 640-647, 2015.

    Charlton R, Leow A, GadElkarim J, Zhang A, Ajilore O, Yang S, Lamar M, and Kumar A, “Brain connectivity in late-life depression and aging revealed by network analysis”, American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol. 23, pp. 642-650, 2015.

    Lin M, Kumar A, and Yang S*, “Two-dimensional semi-LASER correlation spectroscopy with well-maintained cross peaks”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, vol. 72, no. 1, pp. 26-32, 2014 (* corresponding author).

    Lin M, Kumar A, and Yang S*, “Two-dimensional J-resolved LASER and semi-LASER spectroscopy of human brain”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, vol. 71, no. 3, pp. 911-920, 2014 (* corresponding author).

    Kumar A, Yang S, Ajilore O, Wu M, Charlton R, and Lamar M, “Subcortical biophysical abnormalities in patients with mood disorders”, Molecular Psychiatry, vol. 19, no. 6, pp. 710-716, 2014.

    Wu M, Lu LH, Lowes A, Yang S, Passarotti AM, Zhou XJ, Pavuluri MN, “Development of superficial white matter and its structural interplay with cortical gray matter in children and adolescents”, Human Brain Mapping, vol. 35, no. 6, pp. 2806-2816, 2014.

    Tadayonnejad R, Yang S, Kumar A, and Ajilore O, “Multimodal brain connectivity analysis in unmedicated late-life depression”, PLoS One, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. e96033, 2014.

    Charlton R, Lamar M, Zhang A, Yang S, Ajilore O, and Kumar A, “White matter tract integrity in late-life depression: associations with severity and cognition”, Psychological Medicine, vol. 44, no. 7, pp. 1427-1437, 2014.

    Ajilore O, Lamar M, Leow A, Zhang A, Yang S, and Kumar A, “Graph theory analysis of cortical-subcortical networks in late-life depression”, American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 195-206, 2014.

    Ajilore O, Zhan L, GadElkarim J, Zhang A, Feusner JD, Yang S, Thompson PM, Kumar A, and Leow A, “Constructing the resting state structural connectome”, Frontiers in Neuroinformatics, vol.7, Article 30, pp. 1-8, 2013.

    Lamar M, Charlton R, Ajilore O, Zhang A, Yang S, Barrick T, Rhodes E, and Kumar A, “Prefrontal vulnerabilities and whole brain connectivity in aging and depression”, Neuropsychologia, vol. 51, no. 8, pp. 1463-1470, 2013.

    Zhang A, Ajilore O, Zhan L, GadElkarim J, Korthauer L, Yang S, Leow A, Kumar A, “White matter tract integrity of anterior limb of internal capsule in major depression and type 2 diabetes”, Neuropsychopharmacology, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 1451-1459, 2013.

    Zhang A, Leow A, Ajilore O, Lamar M, Yang S, Joseph J, Medina J, Zhan L, Kumar A, “Quantitative tract-specific measures of uncinate and cingulum in major depression using diffusion tensor imaging”, Neuropsychopharmacology, vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 959-967, 2012.

    Zhang X, Ross TJ, Salmeron BJ, Yang S, Yang Y, and Stein EA, “Real-time fMRI feedback: single subject task-related BOLD signal artifact”, Human Brain Mapping, vol. 32, no.4, pp. 592-600, 2011.

    Yang S, Salmeron BJ, Ross TJ, Xi ZX, Stein EA, and Yang Y, “Lower glutamate levels in rostral anterior cingulate of chronic cocaine users – a 1H-MRS study using TE-averaged PRESS at 3T with an optimized quantification strategy”, Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging, vol. 174, no.3, pp. 171-176, 2009.

    Lu H, Yang S, Zuo Y, Demny S, Stein EA, and Yang Y, “Real-time animal functional magnetic resonance imaging and its application to neuropharmacological studies”, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, vol. 26, no.9, pp. 1266-1272, 2008.

    Yang S, Hu J, Kou Z, and Yang Y, “Spectral simplification for resolved glutamate and glutamine measurement using a standard STEAM sequence with optimized timing parameters at 3, 4, 4.7, 7, and 9.4 Tesla”, Magnetic Resonance in Medicine, vol. 59, no. 2, pp. 236-244, 2008.

    Yang S, Ross TJ, and Yang Y, “Real-time functional magnetic resonance imaging and its applications”, Chapter V, page 129-153, in Lars N. Bakker (Ed.), Brain Mapping Research Developments, ISBN 978-1-60456-007-7, Nova Science Publishers Inc., Hauppauge, NY, USA, 2008.

    Hu J*, Yang S*, Xuan Y, Jiang Q, Yang Y, and Haacke EM, “Simultaneous detection of resolved glutamate, glutamine, and γ-aminobutyric acid at 4 T”, Journal of Magnetic Resonance, vol. 185, no. 2, pp. 204-213, 2007 (* equal contribution to this paper).

    Yang S, Ross TJ, Zhang Y, Stein EA, and Yang Y, “Head-motion suppression using real-time feedback of motion information and its effects on task performance in fMRI”, NeuroImage, vol. 27, no. 1, pp. 153-162, 2005./p>

    Yang Y, Gu H, Ross TJ, Zhan W, and Yang S, “Single-shot magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) techniques and their applications”, Chapter 8, page 241-280, in Cornelius T. Leondes (Ed.), Medical Imaging Systems Technology (a 5-Volume Set, ISBN 981-256-364-4) - Modalities (the second volume, ISBN 981-256-992-8), World Scientific Publishing Co., Hackensack, NJ, USA, 2005.

Title Description Investigator(s) Category Status
Impact of Cocaine on Brain Neurochemistry, Functional Connectivity and Cognition in HIV The overall aim of this study is to investigate the impact of cocaine abuse on brain neurochemistry, functional connectivity, and cognition in HIV+ individuals. The general goal is to characterize the effects of cocaine abuse on brain neurochemistry, as well as functional connectivity in neural circuitry involved in reward/cognition in HIV+ individuals. Women's Mental Health Research Program Completed

*System-generated list from psychiatry research website.