Organisation:
Department:
Interests:
I am currently a senior lecturer in the Division of Applied Medicine at the University of Aberdeen and I am also an honorary Clinical Scientist in the NHS Grampian Department of Radiology. I am employed to provide physics support to the neuroimaging research program of the University of Aberdeen, and via SINAPSE, to the wider neuroimaging community in Scotland, to develop and assess imaging techniques and to carry out collaborative research on patient and normal control groups with academic and clinical colleagues, particularly collaborating with the Departments of Psychology, Mental Health, Public Health and Child Health. My main research interest has been in the developing and aging brain (particularly autism and Alzheimer’s disease). I am particularly interested in functional and structural correlations particularly with reference to changes in white matter during development/aging. I use a number of imaging and data analysis techniques, such as fMRI, optimised voxel based morphometry, diffusion tensor imaging with tractography, kurtosis imaging as well as T2 relaxography imaging to investigate mylination.
Research Themes:
fMRI, The developing and ageing brain, Structural image processing and analysis
Key Publications:
Mustafa N, Ahearn T, Waiter GD, Murray AD, Whalley LJ, Staff RT. Brain structural complexity and life course cognitive change. NeuroImage 2012:61;694-701
Shokouhi M, Williams JHG, Waiter GD and Condon B. Changes in the sulcal size associated with autism spectrum disorder revealed by sulcal morphometry. Autism Research 2012:5; 245-252.
Gradin VB, Waiter GD, Kumar P, Stickle C, Milders M, Matthews K, Reid I, Hall J, Steele JD. Abnormal neural responses to social exclusion in schizophrenia. PLoS ONE, 2012:7, Article number e42608
Al-Rashidi N, Waiter GD, Redpath T, Gilbert F. Assessment of the apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) of normal breast tissue during the menstrual cycle at 3T using image segmentation. European Journal of Radiology 2012, 81:S1-S3
Braadbaart L, Waiter GD, Williams JHG. Neural correlates of individual differences in manual imitation fidelity. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, September, 2012.
Gradin VB, Waiter GD, O’Connor A, Romaniuk L, Stickle C, Matthews K, Hall J, Steele JD. Salience network-midbrain dysconnectivity and blunted reward signals in schizophrenia. Psychiatry Research – Neuroimaging, 2013, 211 (2) , pp. 104-111
Basu N, Murray AD, Jones GT, Reid DM, Macfarlane GJ, Waiter GD. Fatigue related brain white matter changes in Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA; Wegener’s). Rheumatology, 2013, 52(8), 1429-34.
Braadbaart L, Williams J, Waiter GD. Do mirror neuron areas mediate mu rhythm suppression during imitation and action observation. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 2013, 89(1), 99-105.
Braadbaart L, de Grauw H, Perrett DI, Waiter GD, Williams J. Empathy and ability modulate brain activity during facial imitation. Neuroimage 2014, 84:367-375
Sokunbi MO, Gradin VB, Waiter GD, Cameron GG, Ahearn TS, Murray AD, Steele DJ, and Staff RT. Nonlinear complexity analysis of brain fMRI signals in schizophrenia. PLoS One, 2014 •DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0095146.
Basu N, Murray AD, Jones GT, Reid DM, Macfarlane GJ, Waiter GD. Neural Correlates of Fatigue in Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis (GPA; Wegener’s) – A Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) Study. Rheumatology 2014, 53(11), 2080-2087
Gradin VB, Pérez A, MacFarlane JA, Cavin I, Waiter GD, Engelmann J, Dritschel B, Pomi A, Matthews K, and Steele JD. Abnormal brain responses to social fairness in depression: an fMRI study using the Ultimatum Game. Psychological Medicine 2015, 45(6) 1241-1251
Waiter GD, Cameron GG, Ahearn TS, Schwarzbauer C, Murray AD. Age Related Changes in Cerebrovascular Reactivity and Its Relationship to Global Brain Structure. British Journal of Medicine & Medical Research 2015, 7(10): 809-820.
Braadbaart L, Buchan G, Williams JHG, and Waiter GD. An fMRI Compatible Touchscreen to Measure Hand Kinematics During a Complex Drawing Task. British Journal of Applied Science & Technology 2015, 9(4): 346-353.
Gradin VB, Pérez A, MacFarlane JA, Cavin I, Waiter GD, Tone EB, Dritschel B, Maiche A, Steele JD. Neural correlates of social exchanges during the Prisoner’s Dilemma game in depression (2016) Psychological Medicine, 46 (6), pp. 1289-1300.
Williams JHG, Cameron IM, Ross E, Braadbaart L, and Waiter GD. Perceiving and expressing feelings through actions in relation to individual differences in empathic traits: the Action and Feelings Questionnaire (AFQ) Cognitive, Affective and Behavioural Neuroscience (2016). 16 (2), pp. 248-260
Biehl SC, Andersen M, Waiter GD, Pilz KS. Neural changes in areas related to low-level but not high-level motion processing in healthy ageing (2017). Neurobiology of Ageing, 57, pp. 162-169
Job DE, Dickie DA, Rodriguez D, Robson A, Pernet C, Bastin M, Boardman JP, Murray AD, Ahearn A, Waiter GD, Staff RT, Deary IJ, Shenkin SD, Wardlaw JM, A brain imaging repository of normal structural MRI across the life course: Brain Images of Normal Subjects (BRAINS). Neuroimage 2017, 144(1): 299-304
Thrippleton MJ,, Shi Y, Blair G, Hamilton I, Waiter GD, Schwarzbauer C, Pernet C, Andrews P, Marshall I, Doubal F and Wardlaw J. Cerebrovascular reactivity measurement in cerebral small vessel disease: Rationale and reproducibility of a protocol for MRI acquisition and image processing (2018). International Journal of Stroke, 13(2), pp. 195-206
Kumar P, Waiter GD, Dubois M, Milders M, Reid I, Steele JD. Increased neural response to social rejection in major depression (2017) Depression and Anxiety, 34 (11), pp. 1049-1056.
Basu N., Kaplan CM., Ichesco E., Larkin T., Harris RE., Murray AD., Waiter GD., Clauw DJ. Neurobiologic Features of Fibromyalgia Are Also Present Among Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients (2108). Arthritis and Rheumatology doi.org/10.1002/art.40451
Schrepf, A., Kaplan, C. M., Ichesco, E., Larkin, T., Harte, S., Harris, R. E., Murray, A. D., Waiter, G. D., Clauw, D. J. & Basu, N. A multi-modal MRI study of the central response to inflammation in rheumatoid arthritis. 8 Jun 2018 In : Nature communications. 9, p. 1-11 11 p., 2243
Goñi M, Basu N, Murray AD., Waiter GD. Neural indicators of fatigue in chronic diseases: A systematic review of MRI studies. Diagnostics 2018, 8(3), 42; doi.org/10.3390/diagnostics8030042
Collaborators:
Prof. Isaac Tseng, National Taiwan University Hospital
Dr Victoria Gradin, Universidad de la Republica de Uruguay
Dr Neil Basu, Glasgow University
Dr Justin Williams, University of Aberdeen
Prof. Alison Murray, University of Aberdeen