Brain functioning relies on various segregated/specialized neural regions functioning as an integrated-interconnected network (i.e. metastability). Various psychiatric and neurologic disorders are associated with aberrant functioning of these brain networks. In this study, we present a novel framework integrating the strength and temporal variability of metastability in brain networks. We demonstrate that this approach provides novel mechanistic insights which enables better imaging-based predic...
PDE9A is a cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase expressed in neurons throughout the brain that has attracted attention as a therapeutic target to treat cognitive disorders. Indeed, PDE9A inhibitors are under evaluation in clinical trials as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease and schizophrenia. However, little is known about the cGMP signaling cascades regulated by PDE9A. Canonical cGMP signaling in brain follows the activation of neuronal nitric oxide synthase (nNOS) and the generation of nitric oxi...
Background Early exposure to nociceptive events may cause brain structural alterations in preterm neonates (PN), with long-lasting consequences on neurodevelopmental outcome. Little is known on the extent to which early pain may affect brain connectivity. We aim to evaluate brain functional connectivity changes in PN that underwent multiple invasive procedures during the postnatal period, and to correlate them with the neurodevelopmental outcome at 24 months. Methods In this prospective case-con...
Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a prevalent long-term neurodegenerative disease. Though the criteria of PD diagnosis are relatively well defined, current diagnostic procedures using medical images are labor-intensive and expertise-demanding. Hence, highly integrated automatic diagnostic algorithms are desirable. Methods: In this work, we propose an end-to-end multi-modality diagnostic framework, including segmentation, registration, feature extraction and machine learning, to analyze the...
(UoI: University of Ioannina)+ 9 AuthorsMaria Syrrou17
Estimated H-index: 17
(UoI: University of Ioannina)
Post-partum depression (PPD) is a severe psychiatric disorder affecting ~15% of young mothers. Early life stressful conditions in periconceptual, fetal and early infant periods or exposure to maternal psychiatric disorders, have been linked to adverse child outcomes interfering with physiological, cognitive and emotional development. The molecular mechanisms of PPD are not yet fully understood. Unraveling the molecular underpinnings of PPD will allow timely detection and establishment of effecti...
The inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) is a white matter tract that connects the occipital and the temporal lobes. ILF abnormalities have been associated with deficits in visual processing and language comprehension in dementia patients, thus suggesting that its integrity is important for semantic processing. However, it remains elusive whether ILF microstructural organization per se impacts the visual semantic processing efficiency in the healthy brain. The present study aims to investigate...
Accumulation and aggregation of misfolded alpha-synuclein is believed to be a cause of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Phosphorylation of alpha-synuclein at S129 is known to be associated with the pathological misfolding process, but efforts to investigate the relevance of this post-translational modification for pathology have been frustrated by difficulties in detecting and quantifying it in relevant samples. We report novel, ultrasensitive immunoassays based on single-molecule counting technology, ...
The study of dynamic functional network connectivity (dFNC) has been important to understand the healthy and diseased brain. Recent developments model groups of functionally related brain structures (defined as functional domains) as entities that can send and receive information. A domain analysis starts by detecting a finite set of connectivity patterns known as domain states within each functional domain. Dynamic functional domain connectivity (DFDC) is a novel information theoretic framework...
Abstract The human brain is thought to be an extremely complex but efficient computing engine, processing vast amounts of information from a changing world. The decline in the synaptic density of neuronal networks is one of the most important characteristics of brain development, which is closely related to synaptic pruning, synaptic growth, synaptic plasticity, and energy metabolism. However, because of technical limitations in observing large-scale neuronal networks dynamically connected throu...
There is increasing evidence of associations between the presence of temporomandibular joint (TMJ) disorders and tinnitus. It has been recently proposed that tinnitus patients with TMJ complaints could constitute a subtype, meaning a subgroup of tinnitus patients responsive to specific treatments. Tinnitus patients with TMJ complaints are often young women with somatosensory features of their tinnitus. Here, we investigate the socio-economic factors, phenotypic characteristics and psychological ...