PhD in Biotechnology

Course partially running (all years except the first)

2019 Summer School on Brain Connectomics

Period
23-27 settembre, 2019

URL
http://brainconnectomics.org/

Academic staff
Gloria Menegaz

Series to which this belongs

33° ciclo
33° ciclo
33° ciclo
34° ciclo
34° ciclo
34° ciclo
35° ciclo
35° ciclo
35° ciclo

Description

Technical description

Connectomics is one of the hottest inter-disciplinary topics today. It links computer science and Engineering with life- and neuro-sciences. Connection networks grow over functional (fMRI, ASL, EEG, MEG) and structural (diffusion weighted MRI) data and the integration of the two in both static and dynamic conditions sheds light on the way our brain actually works. Connectomics also holds a paramount potential for clinical applications through the characterization of the network's modulation in pathologies and the assessment of the treatment. The BRAINCONN 2019 Winter School will address all the steps of the pipeline leading from raw data to connectivity models addressing structural, functional and effective connectivity. The School articulates across five days each focusing on one specific aspect. In particular, days 1 opens with a lecture introducing brain connectomics and illustrating the different aspects that are concerned and sets the basis for diffusion MRI signal reconstruction and modelling as well as for the construction of the structural connectivity matrix; day 2 will face some issues affecting signal acquisition and pre-processing in diffusion MRI including the issue of data harmonization from multi-site acquisitions; day 3 faces advanced topics in microstructure modelling and provides a solid background on tractography methods, illustrates pitfalls and recent advances and provides hints for practical usage of existing algorithms. Day 4 is dedicated to functional imaging with lectures dedicated to functional MRI, EEG and MEG and to the introduction of related connectivity models. Day 5 opens with a wide overview on cortical parcellation strategies enabling region-based connectivity models to prepare for the two last lectures concerning effective connectivity models and graph theory. Days 1, 3, 4 and 5 will also host hands-on sessions on the related topics discussed in the morning sessions covering all the main practical aspects of data processing and connectivity modelling.

 

Outline on topics to be covered

The School on Brain Connectomics aims at gathering the knowledge in the different fields that are touched by these topics providing the students a comprehensive view of this research area as well as awareness about the cutting-edge methodological, experimental and technical aspects that are involved. As described in the previous Section, the main topics that will be covered are as follows:

  • Signal acquisition and modeling in diffusion MRI
  • Microstructure modeling in diffusion MRI
  • Tractography methods and related issues
  • Data harmonization across different acquisition sites and protocols
  • Acquisition and processing of functional data (functional MRI, EEG, MEG)
  • Connectivity modeling (structural, functional and effective)
  • Graph models
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