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+420 54949 7579, +420 543 182 639, +420 543 182 684 |
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Research areas
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Large-scale neural network dynamics underlying human behaviour
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Multimodal study of structural and functional connectivity in the human brain in health and neurological and psychiatric diseases
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Neural underpinning of social cognition in healthy subjects and pathological conditions
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Social effects and behaviour in the context of cortico-subcortical interactions
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Motivational and decision-making mechanisms within the human brain as a background for neuroeconomic research
Main objectives
Usage of multimodal approach to the advanced study of cognitive and behavioural functions.
Content of research
Principles in neural connectivity underlying normal and pathological brain processing
The research group will be principally participating in this work package by comparing the network architecture of structural and functional connectivity and model their relationships. Special attention will also be paid to studies of changes in neural connectivity in terms of developmental, physiological and pathological neuroplasticity. The principal aim will be to significantly contribute to our knowledge of “wiring” in a healthy and diseased brain, as well as to identify the typically reorganised neural networks in some neuropsychiatric conditions that might be used by us in the future as extremely useful early biological markers of the disease.
Genetics and epigenetics of neuropsychiatric diseases
The research group will be focusing on global gene expression profiling in selected neurological disorders (for example in the brain tissues of epileptic patients) and the analysis of epigenetic changes associated with selected neuropsychiatric disorders.
Mechanisms of CNS adaptation on pathological factors and therapy
The research group will be studying the impact of neurodegenerative diseases such as dystonia, and schizophrenia on the structural measures and functional properties of the brain using the high field MR techniques (event related fMR and spectroscopy, tractography and others), the high frequency event related electrophysiological methods, and neuromodulation techniques. The results of the instrumental investigations will be compared with clinical, neuropsychological and behavioural data and therapy outcome. The histological and molecular basis as well as the genetic background of diseases will be compared with advanced imaging and functional techniques and with clinical data.
SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATIONS
In CEITEC (cooperation with any group or core facility within CEITEC)
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Molecular Medicine RP (microRNA analysis as a biomarker of intractable epilepsy)
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MAFIL CF (participation in signal acquisition and its advanced analysis)
In the Czech Republic
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RECETOX (Masaryk University, Brno) – collaboration on FP7 project VULDE (Klara Mareckova), investigation of the subjects from ELSPAC cohort
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Faculty of Social Studies (Masaryk University, Brno) – collaborative projects on déjà vu and attachment style (extensive questionnaire survey using social networks), social motor learning, impulsivity, ...
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Faculty of Science (Masaryk University, Brno) – joint grant proposal focused on Effect of magnetic field on humans.Institute of Scientific Instruments Academy of Sciences CR Brno – advanced analysis of EEG signals
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Institute of Psychology Academy of Sciences CR Brno – expertise on behavioural experimental tasks
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Traffic Psychology Department, Transport Research Centre, Brno – collaborative research projects on empathy and antisocial behaviour of traffic offenders
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International Centre for Clinical Research, St. Anne University, Brno – Research projects on high-frequency oscillations in intracerebral EEG
Outside of the Czech Republic
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Claus Lamm - SCAN Unit, University of Vienna (collaborative project on empathy for pain)
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Viktor Jirsa – Institute de Neurosciences des Systemes, INSERM, Marseille (collaborative project on brain dynamics)
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Greg Worrell – Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester (collaborative project on HFO)
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Adam Zeman – Peninsula College of Medicine, University of Exeter (collaborative project on deja vu phenomenon)
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Tomas Paus – Rotman Research Institute, University of Toronto (joint grant proposals)
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Olivier David – Institute des Neurosciences Grenoble (collaborative project F-Tract)
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Jill Goldstein – Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School (collaborative project on brain, hormones and sex differences)
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Gulin Oz – University of Minnesota (High-field spectroscopy of the cerebellum)
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Ovidiu Lungu - University of Montreal (collaborative research on dystonia and the cerebellum, Parkinson´s Disease and social motor learning)
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Stephane Lehericy – University of Paris (functional imaging of the cerebellum in dystonia patients)
PLANNED RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
Core Facility
The research group will be one of the principal users of the equipment available within CEITEC Molecular and Functional Imaging Core Facility.
CURRENT RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE
MR Siemens Magnetom Symphony 1.5T, MR compatible EEG (BrainAmp) 32 channels, Video EEG system (Alien) 128 channels, EEG system (BrainScope) 96 channels.
