Brain connectivity and glioma: a new approach
Alessandro Salvalaggio
The emerging field of “cancer neuroscience” reveals intricate functional interplays between glioblastoma and the brain’s normal cellular architecture encompassing neurons, glia, and vessels. Recent investigations underscore the role of structural and functional brain connections within within hierarchical networks, known as the connectome. These connections contribute significantly to glioblastoma’s location, spread, recurrence, and overall survival, revealing a complex interplay at the whole-brain level between the cancer and the nervous system. This mounting evidence prompts a paradigm shift, challenging the perception of glioblastomas as mere foreign bodies within the brain. Instead, these tumours are intricately woven into the structural and functional fabric of the brain. This radical change in thinking holds profound implications for the understanding and treatment of glioblastomas, which could unveil new prognostic factors and surgical strategies and optimise radiotherapy. Additionally, a connectivity approach suggests that non-invasive brain stimulation could disrupt pathological neuron-glioma interactions within specific networks.
Alessandro Salvalaggio is a neurologist and researcher (RTD-A) at the Department of Neuroscience of the University of Padova.
He graduated in Medicine and Surgery in 2012 and completed his residency in Neurology in 2018 at the University of Padova. He completed his PhD in Neuroscience in 2022 at Padova Neuroscience Center, with a thesis on brain disconnection in focal lesions (stroke, gliomas), under the supervision of Prof Maurizio Corbetta.
In his research, he deals with the impact of brain tumours and cancer treatments on clinical outcomes (cognitive and neurological impairment, survival) mediated by structural and functional disconnection.
PET connectomics: Exploring brain network complexity from a molecular imaging perspective
Alessandra Bertoldo
Alessandra Bertoldo is Full Professor in Bioengineering at the Department of Information Engineering, University of Padova, Italy; since 2022, she is Director of the Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova, Italy, and since 2017 she is Coordinator of the Master’s Degree Program in Bioengineering and of the Bachelor’s Degree Program in Biomedical Engineering (in Italian: Presidente del CCS aggregato in Ingegneria Biomedica e Bioingegneria).
She has a Master degree in Electronics Engineering, University of Padova, Italy and a PhD in Bioengineering, Politecnico di Milano (Polytechnic University of Milan), Milan, Italy.
Her research interests are mainly related to the development of mathematical models for analysis and control of biological systems and to the quantification of functional positron emission tomography and magnetic resonance images. Current personal and collaborative research activities include: Connectomics (functional, structural, effective, and molecular connectomics), Multimodal Fusion in neuroimaging, Mathematical models for quantitative PET studies, Methods for magnetic resonance functional imaging).
Currently, she teaches “Imaging for Neuroscience” in the Msc in Bioengineering of the Department of Information Engineering, and “Statistical methods for Bioengineering” in the Msc in Bioengineering of the Department of Information Engineering.
She is member of the board of the Doctoral School on Neuroscience (Padova Neuroscience Center, University of Padova). Since November 2015, she is member of the IEEE-EMBC Technical Committee on Biomedical Imaging and Image Processing.
The Clinical Connectome: From Neurodegenerative to Focal Brain Diseases
Lorenzo Pini
At rest, our brain is never truly at rest. Even in the absence of external input, the brain continues to engage in a variety of intrinsic processes. This organization, termed the "functional connectome," consists of a hierarchical scaffold organized into polyfunctional neural networks, complemented by the "structural connectome," which includes distal and local structural connections between brain regions. Recent theories suggest that this functional and structural scaffold may form the foundation of cognitive abilities. Brain conditions that affect neural health impact the connectome, and the breakdown of connectivity can predict cognitive deficits across a broad range of neurological diseases. This reinforces the idea that the connectome is a fundamental characteristic of cognitive processes.
In this presentation, we will discuss the relationship between brain structural and functional connections and behavior in several neurological diseases, including proteinopathies, stroke, and brain tumors. By examining how the connectome and various pathophysiological mechanisms interact, we can gain valuable insights into the underlying processes that support cognitive abilities. Additionally, we will introduce a recently founded project, in which a work package is dedicated to the characterization of the clinical connectome, spanning from degenerative to focal brain diseases. This project will serve as a foundational repository for studying the impact of pathophysiological mechanisms on brain connectivity.
Lorenzo Pini is a researcher (RTD-A) at the Department of Neuroscience of the University of Padova.
He graduated in Psychology from the University of Padova in 2013. From 2014 to 2019, he worked as a study coordinator in a registered clinical trial focused on analyzing the effects of non-invasive stimulation of specific brain circuits in patients with dementia at IRCCS Fatebenefratelli in Brescia. In 2019 he received his PhD in Biomedical Sciences and Translational Medicine from the University of Brescia, faculty of Medicine.
His research activities encompass the following areas: i) Investigation of connectivity in neurological disorders using neuroimaging techniques; ii) Prediction of behavioral deficits in neurological patients; iii) Non-invasive stimulation of brain connectivity
