Lauren R. Moo, M.D.
Assistant Professor
Massachusetts General Hospital
55 Fruit Street, CPZS Suite 340
Boston, MA 02114
Phone: 617-726-2072
Fax: 617-724-7836
E-Mail: lmoo@partners.org
Affiliate
Harvard University
William James Hall, 9th Floor
33 Kirkland Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
Research Interests:
My research is within cognitive neuroscience, with a focus on understanding the neural underpinnings of language and other cognitive functions. I am particularly interested in exploring the adaptability of brain-behavior mapping in the setting of neurologic diseases such as epilepsy and stroke through a combination of functional MRI and neurocognitive testing. My teaching has been not only within my specialty of cognitive neurology, but has always reflected my commitment to teaching general neurology and to medical education more broadly. My clinical work is directly related to my research interests such that between my two clinics, I spend my time evaluating patients with cognitive/behavioral issues related to a variety of neurologic disorders including epilepsy, stroke, and traumatic brain injury.
My research program is currently supported by two grants from the NIDCD:
2002-2009 Principal Investigator, Mentored Patient-Oriented Research Career Award (K23), NIDCD (DC005068), "Plasticity of Language Cortex in Response to Chronic Brain Lesions"
2005-2010 Co-Investigator, NIDCD (R01 DC006842), “Cortical Organization of Noun and Verb Processing” PI: Alfonso Caramazza; Other Co-PI: Alvaro Pascual-Leone
In addition to the above projects, I am also investigating of the role of the left versus right temporal lobe in item versus source memory using a combination of behavioral and fMRI tasks in healthy controls and patients with temporal lobe epilepsy, I am a Co-PI on a clinical trial of memantine in epilepsy patients with memory complaints, and I am a co-Investigator setting up and exploring a database examining factors influencing cognition in patients with epilepsy.
Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital
In this clinic I see patients with various cognitive complaints including post-stoke deficits, head trauma, attentional disorders, epilepsy, and a variety of focal and less common dementia syndromes. I currently see approximately 6 patients per month in this setting.
Epilepsy at Massachusetts General Hospital
As part of the MGH Epilepsy Group, I see patients with new-onset seizures, patients being considered for epilepsy surgery, and patients with cognitive issues related to their epilepsy or epilepsy treatment. I am also involved in the design and administration of Wada tests for patients under consideration for epilepsy surgery. I currently see approximately 8 patients per month in this setting.
Neurology Inpatient Consultation Service at Massachusetts General Hospital
I spend approximately 4 weeks per year as the attending on the inpatient consult service during which I directly supervise one PGY-4 neurology resident and generally one rotating PGY-2 medical resident and one or two PGY-4 medical students.
Representative Publications:
Caplan, D. & Moo, L. Cognitive Conjunction and Cognitive Functions. Neuroimage 2004; 21:751-756.
Note: many of the above manuscripts are copyrighted and some restrictions apply. They are posted here for personal and limited academic use only.