Research Specialists

James J. Pekar, Ph.D.
Research Scientist

Dr. James Pekar is a research scientist at Kennedy Krieger Institute. He is an Associate Professor of Radiology at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. 

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Pekar completed his undergraduate degree in Physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), and went on for a Ph.D. in Biophysics from the University of Pennsylvania, from which he graduated in 1988. After fellowships at the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Dr. Pekar served as an Assistant Professor of Neurology and Director of the Neurobiological Magnetic Resonance Laboratory at the Institute for Cognitive and Computational Sciences at Georgetown University Medical Center. Currently, Dr. Pekar serves as Manager and Research Coordinator of the F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging.

Research Summary

How do we see, hear, and think? More specifically, how can we study living people to understand how the brain sees, hears, and thinks? Recently, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), a powerful anatomical imaging technique widely used for clinical diagnosis, was further developed into a tool for probing brain function. By sensitizing magnetic resonance images to the changes in blood oxygenation that occur when regions of the brain are highly active, we can make "movies" that reveal the brain at work. Dr. Pekar works on the development and application of this MRI technology.

Dr. Pekar is a biophysicist who uses a variety of magnetic resonance techniques to study brain physiology and function. Dr. Pekar serves as Manager of the F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging, a research resource where imaging scientists and neuroscientists collaborate to study brain function using unique state-of-the-art techniques in a safe comfortable environment, to further develop such techniques, and to provide training and education. Dr. Pekar works with center staff to serve the center's users and to keep the center on the leading edge of technology. 

Recent Publications 

Calhoun VD, Adali T, Stevens MC, Kiehl KA, & Pekar JJ.  "Semi-blind ICA of fMRI: A method for utilizing hypothesis- derived time courses in a spatial ICA analysis."  NeuroImage 2005; 25 : 527-538.

Calhoun VD, Adali T, Pearlson GD, and Pekar JJ. 2001. Spatial and Temporal Independent Component Analysis of Functional MRI Data Containing a Pair of Task-Related Waveforms. Human Brain Mapping 13:43-53.

Calhoun VD, Adali T, Pearlson GD, & Pekar JJ. "A Method for Making Group Inferences from Functional MRI Data Using Independent Component Analysis." Human Brain Mapping 2001; 14(3) : 141-50.

Golay X, Silvennoinen MJ, Zhou J, Clingman CS, Kauppinen RA, Pekar JJ, & van Zijl PCM. "Measurement of Tissue Oxygen Extraction Ratios from Venous Blood T2: Increased Precision and Validation of Principle." Magnetic Resonance in Medicine 2001; 46(2) : 282-91.

Johnston MV, Nishimura A, Harum K, Pekar J, & Blue ME. "Sculpting the Developing Brain." Advances in Pediatrics 2001;  48 : 1-38.

Rämä P, Sala JB, Gillen JS, Pekar JJ, & Courtney SM. "Dissociation of the Neural Systems for Working Memory Maintenance of Verbal and Nonspatial Visual Information." Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci  2001; 1(2) : 161-71.

Wessinger CM, VanMeter J, Tian B, Van Lare J, Pekar J, and Rauschecker JP. 2001. Hierarchical Organization of Human Auditory Cortex Revealed by Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience 13:1-7.

Contact Information

James J Pekar, PhD

Manager and Research Coordinator, F.M. Kirby Research Center for Functional Brain Imaging
Kennedy Krieger Institute & Johns Hopkins University

Associate Professor of Radiology 
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Address: 707 North Broadway, Baltimore MD 21205
(map & directions)

Telephone: 443-923-9510
Facsimile: 443-923-9505
Email: jpekar@mri.jhu.edu