Functional Alterations
functional alterations
Non-invasive human neuroimaging studies of motor plasticity have predominantly focused on the cerebral cortex due to low signal-to-noise ration of blood oxygen level-dependent (BOLD) signals in subcortical structures and the small effect sizes typically observed in plasticity paradigms. Precision functional mapping can help overcome these challenges and has revealed significant and reversible functional alterations in the cortico-subcortical motor circuit during arm immobilization
Why is 7T MRI indispensable in epilepsy now?
Identifying a structural brain lesion on MRI is the most important factor that correlates with seizure freedom after surgery in patients suffering from drug-resistant focal epilepsy. By providing better image contrast and higher spatial resolution, structural MRI at 7 Tesla (7T) can lead to lesion detection in about 25% of patients presenting with negative MRI at lower fields. In addition to a better detection/delineation/phenotyping of epileptogenic lesions, higher signal at ultra-high field also facilitates more detailed analyses of several functional and molecular alterations of tissues, susceptible to detect epileptogenic properties even in absence of visible lesions. These advantages but also the technical challenges of 7T MRI in practice will be presented and discussed.
From cells to systems: multiscale studies of the epileptic brain
It is increasingly recognized that epilepsy affects human brain organization across multiple scales, ranging from cellular alterations in specific regions towards macroscale network imbalances. My talk will overview an emerging paradigm that integrates cellular, neuroimaging, and network modelling approaches to faithful characterize the extent of structural and functional alterations in the common epilepsies. I will also discuss how multiscale framework can help to derive clinically useful biomarkers of dysfunction, and how these methods may guide surgical planning and prognostics.
Migraine: a disorder of excitatory-inhibitory balance in multiple brain networks? Insights from genetic mouse models of the disease
Migraine is much more than an episodic headache. It is a complex brain disorder, characterized by a global dysfunction in multisensory information processing and integration. In a third of patients, the headache is preceded by transient sensory disturbances (aura), whose neurophysiological correlate is cortical spreading depression (CSD). The molecular, cellular and circuit mechanisms of the primary brain dysfunctions that underlie migraine onset, susceptibility to CSD and altered sensory processing remain largely unknown and are major open issues in the neurobiology of migraine. Genetic mouse models of a rare monogenic form of migraine with aura provide a unique experimental system to tackle these key unanswered questions. I will describe the functional alterations we have uncovered in the cerebral cortex of genetic mouse models and discuss the insights into the cellular and circuit mechanisms of migraine obtained from these findings.
Meta-analyses of brain structural and resting state functional alterations in subjective cognitive decline
FENS Forum 2024
Structural and functional alterations in the retina of a model of Alzheimer’s disease and type 2 diabetes
FENS Forum 2024