NEUROIMAGING IN DEGENERATIVE DISORDERS

Principal Investigators

CARME JUNQUE

Full Professor

Structural connectivity and cognition in neurological and psychiatric disorders

MARINA LOPEZ-SOLA

Serra Hunter Associate Professor

Pain and emotion neuroscience

BARBARA SEGURA

Associate Professor

Functional connectivity and cognition in neurological and psychiatric disorders

GUADALUPE SORIA

Assistant Professor

Neuroimaging in experimental animal models

ROSER SALA LLONCH

Assistant Professor

Statistical modeling and data analysis for neuroimaging

Research team

 

Adrià Casamitjana

Postdoctoral Researcher

 

Raul Tudela

Postdoctoral Researcher

 

Anna Campabadal

Postdoctoral Researcher

 

Carme Uribe

Postdoctoral Researcher

 

Anna Inguanzo

Early Stage Researcher

 

Javier Oltra

Early Stage Researcher

 

Agnès Pérez-Millan

Early Stage Researcher

 

Gemma Cristina Monte

Technician

 

Alexandra Abos

Others

 

Nuria Bargallo

Others

 

Hugo Cesar Baggio

Others

 

Aida Niñerola

Others

Research Interest

 

The aim of this programme is to identify the mechanisms responsible for cognitive deficits in neurologic and psychiatric diseases using multimodal neuroimaging techniques to contribute to the development of clinically useful imaging biomarkers. It includes the study of the consequences of brain disorders in behaviour and cognition characterising abnormalities in large-scale functional and structural brain networks. Moreover, this research aims to increase the understanding of how distinct aspects of the brain are related to cognitive function. We are also interested in disentangling the biological basis beyond neuroimaging measures as well as exploring their capacity to predict disease evolution and prognosis.

Technologies & Methods

 

  • Neuropsychological testing
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Single Photon Emission Tomography (SPECT) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET)
  • Brain connectivity
  • Machine learning
  • Bayesian statistics
  • Predictive modeling
  • Psychophysiological measures such as skin conductance response and heart rate variability

Active Projects

 

    • CogNition, emotion/behAvior, fUnctionaliTy and braIn connectivity in recovered COVID-19 patientS (NAUTILUS). Fundació La Marató de TV3. 93/U/2021. Barbara Segura.

 

    • CoviD-19 and brain: cognItion And meNtal heAlth (DIANA). Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca. 2020PANDE00053. Carmen Junque.

 

    • Efecto de la intervención cognitiva pre y post amiloide en la conectividad estructural y funcional en un modelo de rata transgénico de Alzheimer. Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad. PI18/00893. Guadalupe Soria.

 

    • Fenilcetonuria: de la infantesa als adults a través del connectoma cerebral, canvis cardiovasculars, característiques metabòliques i de la microbiota intestinal. Fundació La Marató de TV3. 18/C/2020. Carmen Junque.

 

    • Grup de recerca emergent en imatge per ressonància magnética. Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca. 2017SGR1003. Guadalupe Soria.

 

    • Identifying neural pathophysiology in juvenile fibromyalgia. National Institutes of Health. 1R01AR074795-01A1 (Subaward 310178). Marina Lopez.

 

    • Localización de cambios cerebrales el la Enfermedad de Alzheimer utilizando métodos multimodales Bayesianos para establecer predicciones individuals. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación. PID2020-118386RA-I00. Roser Sala.

 

    • Marcadores neurocognitivos de dolor crónico y depresión: una aproximación transdiagnóstica a la medicina de precisión. Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (MICINN). PID2020-117327RB-I00. Marina Lopez.

 

    • Multimodal imaging in parkinsonisms: from the molecular synaptic pruning to the whole-brain connectomics (SYNPARK). European Union. MSCA-IF-2019. 888692. Barbara Segura.

 

    • Neuropsicologia. Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca. 2017SGR748. Carmen Junque.

 

    • Patrones cerebrales estructurales y funcionales asociados con diferentes fenotipos cognitivos y su progresion en trastornos de la conducta del sueño REM. Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades. PID2020-114640GB-I00. Barbara Segura.

 

    • SPRINT: Signature for Pain Recovery IN Teens. National Institutes of Health. 1R61NS114926-01 (Subaward 144386). Marina Lopez.

Selected Publications

 

    • Campabadal, A., Segura, B., Junque, C., & Iranzo, A. (2021). Structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging in isolated REM sleep behavior disorder: A systematic review of studies using neuroimaging software. Sleep Medicine Reviews, 59, 101495. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.smrv.2021.101495

 

    • Inguanzo, A., Sala-Llonch, R., Segura, B., Erostarbe, H., Abos, A., Campabadal, A., Uribe, C., Baggio, H. C., Compta, Y., Marti, M. J., Valldeoriola, F., Bargallo, N., & Junque, C. (2021). Hierarchical cluster analysis of multimodal imaging data identifies brain atrophy and cognitive patterns in Parkinson’s disease. Parkinsonism & Related Disorders, 82, 16–23. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.parkreldis.2020.11.010

 

    • Uribe, C., Junque, C., Gómez-Gil, E., Díez-Cirarda, M., & Guillamon, A. (2021). Brain connectivity dynamics in cisgender and transmen people with gender incongruence before gender affirmative hormone treatment. Scientific Reports, 11(1), 21036. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00508-y

Knowledge transfer & Innovation

 

  • Bicelas encapsulades en liposomes. Olga Lopez