Positions

Overview

  • Dr. Kana has several years of experience in research in the field of autism spectrum disorders. After earning PhD from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, India, he completed his postdoctoral training at Carnegie Mellon University. In 2001 he was awarded the William Fulbright pre-doctoral research fellow to do research at University of California Los Angeles. He joined UAB in 2007.

    Dr. Kana is the director of the Cognition, Brain and Autism Laboratory at UAB, and the co-director of the UAB Undergraduate Neuroscience Program.
  • Selected Publications

    Academic Article

    Year Title Altmetric
    2023 Amplitude of low frequency fluctuations during resting state fMRI in autistic children 2023
    2023 Driving Attitudes and Avoidance in Drivers with ASD or ADHD 2023
    2022 Time-to-Collision Estimations in Young Drivers with Autism Spectrum Disorder and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity DisorderJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.  52:3933-3948. 2022
    2022 Behavioral and neurobiological evidence for the effects of reading interventions on autistic children: A systematic reviewNeuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.  139. 2022
    2022 Executive Function Brain Network Activation Predicts Driving Hazard Detection in ADHD 2022
    2022 The spike-and-slab elastic net as a classification tool in Alzheimer's diseasePLoS One.  17. 2022
    2021 Corpus callosum size and homotopic connectivity in Autism spectrum disorderPsychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.  313. 2021
    2021 “Unrest while Resting”? Brain entropy in autism spectrum disorderBrain Research.  1762. 2021
    2021 Behind the wheels with autism and ADHD: Brain networks involved in driving hazard detectionTransportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour.  77:274-292. 2021
    2021 Neural responses to viewing human faces in autism spectrum disorder: A quantitative meta-analysis of two decades of researchNeuropsychologia.  150. 2021
    2021 Neuropsychological predictors of driving hazard detection in autism spectrum disorder and ADHDChild Neuropsychology.  27:857-887. 2021
    2021 The Mid-Fusiform Sulcus in Autism Spectrum Disorder: Establishing a Novel Anatomical Landmark Related to Face Processing 2021
    2020 Metacognition and behavioral regulation predict distinct aspects of social functioning in autism spectrum disorderChild Neuropsychology.  26:953-981. 2020
    2020 Frontoparietal Network in Executive Functioning in Autism Spectrum Disorder 2020
    2020 Hyperconnectivity of social brain networks in autism during action-intention judgmentNeuropsychologia.  137. 2020
    2019 Accuracy of machine learning algorithms for the diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder: Systematic review and meta-analysis of brain magnetic resonance imaging studiesJMIR Mental Health.  6. 2019
    2019 Developmental Considerations of Comorbidity in Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Need for Science Across Multiple Units of AnalysisBiological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.  4:1016-1017. 2019
    2019 Evidence for maintained post-encoding memory consolidation across the Adult Lifespan Revealed by network complexity 2019
    2019 Patterns of Cerebellar Connectivity with Intrinsic Connectivity Networks in Autism Spectrum DisordersJournal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.  49:4498-4514. 2019
    2019 Gaps in Current Autism Research: The Thoughts of the Autism Research Editorial Board and Associate Editors 2019
    2019 Aberrant “deep connectivity” in autism: A cortico–subcortical functional connectivity magnetic resonance imaging study 2019
    2018 Neural Correlates of Social Perception in Children with Autism: Local versus Global PreferencesNeuroscience.  395:49-59. 2018
    2018 Differential recruitment of theory of mind brain network across three tasks: An independent component analysisBehavioural Brain Research.  347:385-393. 2018
    2018 Advances, challenges, and promises in pediatric neuroimaging of neurodevelopmental disordersNeuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.  90:50-69. 2018
    2018 Neurophysiological differences in the adolescent brain following a single night of restricted sleep – A 7T fMRI studyDevelopmental Cognitive Neuroscience.  31:1-10. 2018
    2018 Action simulation and mirroring in children with autism spectrum disordersBehavioural Brain Research.  341:1-8. 2018
    2018 Brain responses underlying anthropomorphism, agency, and social attribution in autism spectrum disorderOpen Neuroimaging Journal.  12:16-29. 2018
    2018 Brain Mechanisms Underlying Reading the Mind from Eyes, Voice, and ActionsNeuroscience.  374:172-186. 2018
    2018 The impact of atypical sensory processing on social impairments in autism spectrum disorderDevelopmental Cognitive Neuroscience.  29:151-167. 2018
    2017 Changes in intrinsic local connectivity after reading intervention in children with autismBrain and Language.  175:11-17. 2017
    2017 Corrigendum to: Neural networks underlying language and social cognition during self-other processing in autism spectrum disorders (Neuropsychologia (2017) (102) (116–123) (S002839321730221X) (10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2017.06.008))Neuropsychologia.  106:418. 2017
    2017 Neural networks underlying language and social cognition during self-other processing in Autism spectrum disordersNeuropsychologia.  102:116-123. 2017
    2017 Hippocampal dentation: Structural variation and its association with episodic memory in healthy adultsNeuropsychologia.  101:65-75. 2017
    2017 “Decoding versus comprehension”: Brain responses underlying reading comprehension in children with autismBrain and Language.  169:39-47. 2017
    2017 The Action Imitation network and motor imitation in children and adolescents with autismNeuroscience.  343:147-156. 2017
    2017 From word reading to multisentence comprehension: Improvements in brain activity in children with autism after reading interventionNeuroImage: Clinical.  16:303-312. 2017
    2017 Progress and roadblocks in the search for brain-based biomarkers of autism and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorderTranslational Psychiatry.  7. 2017
    2016 Neuroanatomical and neurofunctional markers of social cognition in autism spectrum disorderHuman Brain Mapping.  37:3957-3978. 2016
    2016 White Matter Diffusion of Major Fiber Tracts Implicated in Autism Spectrum DisorderBrain Connectivity.  6:691-699. 2016
    2016 Hemispheric differences in language processing in autism spectrum disorders: A meta-analysis of neuroimaging studies 2016
    2016 Neural Markers of Cybersecurity: An fMRI Study of Phishing and Malware WarningsIEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security.  11:1970-1983. 2016
    2016 Biochemistry of the cingulate cortex in autism: An MR spectroscopy study 2016
    2016 Task-Dependent Changes in Frontal-Parietal Activation and Connectivity during Visual SearchBrain Connectivity.  6:335-344. 2016
    2016 Altered Medial Frontal and Superior Temporal Response to Implicit Processing of Emotions in Autism 2016
    2016 The Impact of Reading Intervention on Brain Responses Underlying Language in Children With Autism 2016
    2015 Aberrant functioning of the theory-of-mind network in children and adolescents with autismMolecular Autism.  6. 2015
    2015 Language and motor cortex response to comprehending accidental and intentional action sentencesNeuropsychologia.  77:158-164. 2015
    2015 Changes in intrinsic connectivity of the brain's reading network following intervention in children with autismHuman Brain Mapping.  36:2965-2979. 2015
    2015 Multimodal neuroimaging based classification of autism spectrum disorder using anatomical, neurochemical, and white matter correlatesCortex.  66:46-59. 2015
    2015 The effect of medial temporal lobe epilepsy on visual memory encodingEpilepsy and Behavior.  46:173-184. 2015
    2015 Motor learning in individuals with autism spectrum disorder: Activation in superior parietal lobule related to learning and repetitive behaviors 2015
    2015 Anatomical likelihood estimation meta-analysis of grey and white matter anomalies in autism spectrum disordersNeuroImage: Clinical.  7:525-536. 2015
    2014 Attribution of emotions to body postures: An independent component analysis study of functional connectivity in autismHuman Brain Mapping.  35:5204-5218. 2014
    2014 Enhanced parietal cortex activation during location detection in children with autismJournal of Neurodevelopmental Disorders.  6. 2014
    2014 Brain connectivity in autismFrontiers in Human Neuroscience.  8. 2014
    2014 Differential role of temporoparietal junction and medial prefrontal cortex in causal inference in autism: An independent component analysisNeuroscience Letters.  568:50-55. 2014
    2014 The implications of brain connectivity in the neuropsychology of autismNeuropsychology Review.  24:16-31. 2014
    2014 Functional brain connectivity in a child with autism with an enlarged cavum septum pellucidumNeuropsychiatry.  4:23-25. 2014
    2014 Functional brain networks and white matter underlying theory-of-mind in autismSocial Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.  9:98-105. 2014
    2014 Surface-based morphometry of the cortical architecture of autism spectrum disorders: Volume, thickness, area, and gyrificationNeuropsychologia.  62:1-10. 2014
    2014 The role of mirroring and mentalizing networks in mediating action intentions in autismMolecular Autism.  5. 2014
    2013 The local, global, and neural aspects of visuospatial processing in autism spectrum disordersNeuropsychologia.  51:2995-3003. 2013
    2013 Identification of neural connectivity signatures of autism using machine learningFrontiers in Human Neuroscience2013
    2013 Advancing our understanding of the brain in autism: Contribution of functional MRI and diffusion tensor imagingImaging in Medicine.  5:453-465. 2013
    2013 An fMRI investigation of working memory and its relationship with cardiorespiratory fitness in pediatric posterior fossa tumor survivors who received cranial radiation therapyPediatric Blood and Cancer.  60:669-675. 2013
    2012 "How to do things with Words": Role of motor cortex in semantic representation of action wordsNeuropsychologia.  50:3403-3409. 2012
    2012 Differential Deactivation during Mentalizing and Classification of Autism Based on Default Mode Network ConnectivityPLoS One.  7. 2012
    2012 "The archeologist's career ended in ruins": Hemispheric differences in pun comprehension in autismNeuroImage.  62:77-86. 2012
    2012 Cardiorespiratory fitness in survivors of pediatric posterior fossa tumorJournal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology.  34. 2012
    2012 Brain responses mediating idiom comprehension: Gender and hemispheric differencesBrain Research.  1467:18-26. 2012
    2012 Autism as a neural systems disorder: A theory of frontal-posterior underconnectivityNeuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.  36:1292-1313. 2012
    2012 Neural substrates of interpreting actions and emotions from body posturesSocial Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience.  7:446-456. 2012
    2012 Specificity of and extensions to the disrupted connectivity model of autism. Reply to comments on "Disrupted cortical connectivity theory as an explanatory model for autism spectrum disorders".Physics of Life Reviews.  9:3-4. 2012
    2012 Executive dysfunction in pediatric posterior fossa tumor survivors: A systematic literature review of neurocognitive deficits and interventionsDevelopmental Neuropsychology.  37:153-175. 2012
    2012 Specialization and integration of brain responses to object recognition and location detectionBrain and Behavior.  2:6-14. 2012
    2011 Disrupted cortical connectivity theory as an explanatory model for autism spectrum disordersPhysics of Life Reviews.  8:410-437. 2011
    2011 Probing the brain in autism using FMRI and diffusion tensor imaging.Journal of Visualized Experiments2011
    2011 Brain mechanisms of perceiving tools and imagining tool use acts: A functional MRI studyNeuropsychologia.  49:1863-1869. 2011
    2011 A systems level analysis of the mirror neuron hypothesis and imitation impairments in autism spectrum disordersNeuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.  35:894-902. 2011
    2011 Probing the brain in autism using fMRI and diffusion tensor imagingJournal of Visualized Experiments2011
    2010 Cortical underconnectivity coupled with preserved visuospatial cognition in autism: Evidence from an fMRI study of an embedded figures task 2010
    2009 Atypical frontal-posterior synchronization of Theory of Mind regions in autism during mental state attributionSocial Neuroscience.  4:135-152. 2009
    2008 fMRI investigation of working memory for faces in autism: Visual coding and underconnectivity with frontal areasCerebral Cortex.  18:289-300. 2008
    2008 Theory of Mind disruption and recruitment of the right hemisphere during narrative comprehension in autismNeuropsychologia.  46:269-280. 2008
    2007 Inhibitory Control in High-Functioning Autism: Decreased Activation and Underconnectivity in Inhibition NetworksBiological Psychiatry.  62:198-206. 2007
    2007 Functional and anatomical cortical underconnectivity in autism: Evidence from an fmri study of an executive function task and corpus callosum morphometryCerebral Cortex.  17:951-961. 2007
    2007 A developmental study of the structural integrity of white matter in autismNeuroReport.  18:23-27. 2007
    2006 Functional connectivity in a baseline resting-state network in autismNeuroReport.  17:1687-1690. 2006
    2006 Platform Session 4 (36–43)Annals of Neurology.  60:s139-s141. 2006
    2006 Sentence comprehension in autism: Thinking in pictures with decreased functional connectivity 2006

    Book

    Year Title Altmetric
    2022 Introduction to the neuroscience of autism 2022
    2022 The Neuroscience of Autism 2022

    Chapter

    Year Title Altmetric
    2022 Brain function and brain connectivity in autism.  107-126. 2022
    2022 History of autism.  1-14. 2022
    2022 Social, cognitive, perceptual, and other models of autism spectrum disorder.  65-85. 2022
    2013 A theory of autism based on frontal-posterior underconnectivity.  35-64. 2013
    2013 Neural representations of self versus other: Lessons from autism.  179-202. 2013

    Research Overview

  • Dr. Kana’s research interests are in the area of cognitive and affective neuroscience, and autism spectrum disorders. In addition to investigating the neurobiological mechanisms underlying autism using multimodal neuroimaging techniques — such as functional MRI (fMRI), diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), cortical morphometry, and MR spectroscopy (MRS) — his lab examines the neural bases of social cognition and language comprehension. Brain connectivity is another area of focus in Dr. Kana’s neuroimaging research in autism as well as in neurotypical individuals.

    Social cognitive and affective neuroscience, neuroimaging, autism spectrum disorders, brain and language
  • Teaching Activities

  • HON325 - Honors Prog: Sem in Psychology (Spring Term 2009)
  • PY220 - Special Topics (Summer Term 2015)
  • PY253 - Brain Mind and Behavior (Fall Term 2013)
  • PY253 - Brain Mind and Behavior (Fall Term 2014)
  • PY253 - Brain Mind and Behavior (Fall Term 2015)
  • PY253 - Brain Mind and Behavior (Fall Term 2016)
  • PY253 - Brain Mind and Behavior (Fall Term 2017)
  • PY253 - Brain Mind and Behavior (Fall Term 2018)
  • PY253 - Brain Mind and Behavior (Spring Term 2017)
  • PY253 - Brain Mind and Behavior (Summer Term 2018)
  • PY320 - Contemporary Issues in Psych (Spring Term 2008)
  • PY320 - Contemporary Issues in Psych (Summer Term 2015)
  • PY320 - Contemporary Issues in Psych (Summer Term 2017)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Fall Term 2008)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Fall Term 2009)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Fall Term 2010)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Fall Term 2011)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Fall Term 2012)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Fall Term 2013)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Fall Term 2014)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Fall Term 2015)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Fall Term 2016)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Fall Term 2018)
  • PY354 - Autism: Brain and Cognition (Spring Term 2009)
  • PY420 - Contemporary Issues in Psych (Fall Term 2008)
  • PY420 - Contemporary Issues in Psych (Spring Term 2008)
  • PY420 - Contemporary Issues in Psych (Spring Term 2009)
  • PY420 - Contemporary Issues in Psych (Spring Term 2010)
  • PY420 - Contemporary Issues in Psych (Spring Term 2011)
  • PY420 - Special Topics (Fall Term 2012)
  • PY420 - Special Topics (Summer Term 2015)
  • PY420 - Special Topics (Summer Term 2017)
  • PY743 - Methods in Neuroimaging (Fall Term 2012)
  • PY743 - Methods in Neuroimaging (Spring Term 2011)
  • PY791 - Special Topics (Summer Term 2015)
  • PY791 - Special Topics (Summer Term 2017)
  • PY791 - Special Topics in Psychology (Fall Term 2008)
  • PY791 - Special Topics in Psychology (Spring Term 2008)
  • PY791 - Special Topics in Psychology (Spring Term 2010)
  • Education And Training

  • Doctor of Philosophy in Psychology, Indian Institute of Technology/Delhi 2003
  • Full Name

  • Rajesh Kana