Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience (Jul 2023)
Virtual brain simulations reveal network-specific parameters in neurodegenerative dementias
- Anita Monteverdi,
- Fulvia Palesi,
- Michael Schirner,
- Michael Schirner,
- Michael Schirner,
- Michael Schirner,
- Michael Schirner,
- Francesca Argentino,
- Mariateresa Merante,
- Alberto Redolfi,
- Francesca Conca,
- Laura Mazzocchi,
- Stefano F. Cappa,
- Stefano F. Cappa,
- Matteo Cotta Ramusino,
- Alfredo Costa,
- Alfredo Costa,
- Anna Pichiecchio,
- Anna Pichiecchio,
- Lisa M. Farina,
- Viktor Jirsa,
- Petra Ritter,
- Petra Ritter,
- Petra Ritter,
- Petra Ritter,
- Petra Ritter,
- Claudia A. M. Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott,
- Claudia A. M. Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott,
- Claudia A. M. Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott,
- Egidio D’Angelo,
- Egidio D’Angelo
Affiliations
- Anita Monteverdi
- Unit of Digital Neuroscience, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Fulvia Palesi
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Michael Schirner
- Berlin Institute of Health, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Michael Schirner
- Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Michael Schirner
- Bernstein Focus State Dependencies of Learning and Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
- Michael Schirner
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Michael Schirner
- Einstein Center Digital Future, Berlin, Germany
- Francesca Argentino
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Mariateresa Merante
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Alberto Redolfi
- Laboratory of Neuroinformatics, IRCCS Istituto Centro San Giovanni di Dio Fatebenefratelli, Brescia, Italy
- Francesca Conca
- IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Laura Mazzocchi
- 0Advanced Imaging and Artificial Intelligence Center, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Stefano F. Cappa
- IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Stefano F. Cappa
- 1University Institute of Advanced Studies (IUSS), Pavia, Italy
- Matteo Cotta Ramusino
- 2Unit of Behavioral Neurology, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Alfredo Costa
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Alfredo Costa
- 2Unit of Behavioral Neurology, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Anna Pichiecchio
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Anna Pichiecchio
- 0Advanced Imaging and Artificial Intelligence Center, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Lisa M. Farina
- IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Viktor Jirsa
- 3Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, INSERM, INS, Aix Marseille University, Marseille, France
- Petra Ritter
- Berlin Institute of Health, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Petra Ritter
- Department of Neurology with Experimental Neurology, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Corporate Member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Petra Ritter
- Bernstein Focus State Dependencies of Learning and Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience, Berlin, Germany
- Petra Ritter
- Einstein Center for Neurosciences Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- Petra Ritter
- Einstein Center Digital Future, Berlin, Germany
- Claudia A. M. Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott
- Unit of Digital Neuroscience, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Claudia A. M. Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- Claudia A. M. Gandini Wheeler-Kingshott
- 4NMR Research Unit, Queen Square Multiple Sclerosis Centre, Department of Neuroinflammation, UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, London, United Kingdom
- Egidio D’Angelo
- Unit of Digital Neuroscience, IRCCS Mondino Foundation, Pavia, Italy
- Egidio D’Angelo
- Department of Brain and Behavioral Sciences, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.3389/fnagi.2023.1204134
- Journal volume & issue
-
Vol. 15
Abstract
IntroductionNeural circuit alterations lay at the core of brain physiopathology, and yet are hard to unveil in living subjects. The Virtual Brain (TVB) modeling, by exploiting structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), yields mesoscopic parameters of connectivity and synaptic transmission.MethodsWe used TVB to simulate brain networks, which are key for human brain function, in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) patients, whose connectivity and synaptic parameters remain largely unknown; we then compared them to healthy controls, to reveal novel in vivo pathological hallmarks.ResultsThe pattern of simulated parameter differed between AD and FTD, shedding light on disease-specific alterations in brain networks. Individual subjects displayed subtle differences in network parameter patterns that significantly correlated with their individual neuropsychological, clinical, and pharmacological profiles.DiscussionThese TVB simulations, by informing about a new personalized set of networks parameters, open new perspectives for understanding dementias mechanisms and design personalized therapeutic approaches.
Keywords
- virtual brain modeling
- brain dynamics
- excitatory/inhibitory balance
- Alzheimer’s disease
- frontotemporal dementia
- resting-state networks
