Short CV

Carsten H. Wolters received the diploma degree in Mathematics with a minor in Medicine from the RWTH Aachen, Aachen, Germany, the Ph.D. degree in Mathematics from the University of Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany and the Habilitation in Mathematics from the University of Münster, Münster, Germany, in 1997, 2003 and 2008, respectively. From 1997 to 2004, he was with the Max Planck Institutes for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences and Mathematics in the Sciences, Leipzig, Germany. From 01/2004 to 02/2005, he joined the Scientific Computing and Imaging Institute at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA. Since 03/2005, he is a Research Associate with the Institute for Biomagnetism and Biosignalanalysis (IBB) at the University of Münster, Münster, Germany. Since 11/2008, he is heading the research group ”SIM-NEURO (Stimulation, Imaging and Modeling of NEUROnal networks in the human brain)” at the IBB. In 2017 he was awarded the title of an außerplanmäßiger Professor by the Medical Faculty of WWU.

Research Areas

The main research areas of the SIM-NEURO (Stimulation, Imaging and Modeling of NEUROnal networks in the human brain) research group at the IBB are the development of new methods and applications for multimodal brain imaging and brain stimulation to reconstruct and manipulate neuronal networks in the brain. Brain imaging methods include modalities such as Electroencephalography (EEG), Magnetoencephalography (MEG), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), diffusion MRI (dMRI), functional MRI (fMRI) and Positron Emmission Tomography (PET). A special focus is on the development of multimodal imaging and combined EEG/MEG/MRI source reconstruction methods using new forward (mainly finite element method based) and inverse approaches (Bayesian estimation, Kalman-filtering, spatio-temporal current density approaches, beamforming, dipole fitting and scanning techniques). In the brain stimulation research field we contribute new optimization methods for multi-sensor setups to transcranial direct and alternating current stimulation (tDCS, tACS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and combined tCS/TMS. We develop artifact-correction, linear and non-linear registration as well as segmentation approaches for structural MRI such as T1-MRI, T2-MRI and dMRI and for PET. The new methodology is applied in the field of neuroscientific brain research and in clinical applications such as presurgical epilepsy diagnosis and schizophrenia.

Selected Publications

Aydin, Ü., Rampp, S., Wollbrink, A., Kugel, H., Cho, J.-H., Knösche, T.R., Grova C., Wellmer, J., Wolters, C.H., Zoomed MRI Guided by Combined EEG/MEG Source Analysis: A Multimodal Approach for Optimizing Presurgical Epilepsy Work-up and its Application in a Multi-focal Epilepsy Patient Case Study. Brain Topogr, 2017. DOI: 10.1007/s10548-017-0568-9

Lucka, F., Pursiainen, S., Burger, M. and Wolters, C.H., Hierarchical Bayesian Inference for the EEG Inverse Problem using Realistic FE Head Models: Depth Localization and Source Separation for Focal Primary Currents, NeuroImage, 61(4), pp.1364--1382, (2012). DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2012.04.017, PubMed

Ruthotto, L., Kugel, H., Olesch, J., Fischer, B., Modersitzki, J., Burger, M., and Wolters, C.H., Diffeomorphic susceptibility artifact correction of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance images, Phys.Med.Biol., 57(18), pp.5715-5731, (2012). DOI: 10.1088/0031-9155/57/18/5715

Wagner, S., Burger, M., Wolters ,C.H., An Optimization Approach for Well-Targeted Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation. SIAM J. Appl. Math., 76(6), pp. 2154-2174, (2016).  DOI: 10.1137/15M1026481

Wolters, C.H., Köstler, H., Möller, C., Härdtlein, J., Grasedyck, L., Hackbusch, W., Numerical mathematics of the subtraction approach for the modeling of a current dipole in EEG source reconstruction using finite element head models. SIAM J. on Scientific Computing, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 24-45 (2007). DOI: 10.1137/060659053

Book Chapter

de Munck, J.C., Wolters, C. H., Clerc, M. "EEG & MEG forward modeling". In R.Brette & A.Destexhe (eds.): Handbook of Neural Activity Measurement, Cambridge University Press, New York, ISBN 978-0-521-51622-8, (2012). DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511979958, Chapter DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511979958.006

Honours and Special Recognitions