EURON and THEME joint PhD meeting

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98 EURON and THEME joint meeting 2011 Aberrant modular organization of cerebral functional networks in cognitive impaired children with frontal lobe epilepsy Vaessen M. 1,2,4 , Heerink J. 1 , Braakman H. 2,3,4 , Hofman P. 2,4 , Aldenkamp A. 2,3,4 , Jansen J. 1,4 , Backes W. 1,4 1 Department of Radiology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands; 2 Department of Research and Development, Epilepsy Centre Kempenhaeghe, Heeze, The Netherlands; 3 Department of Neurology, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands; 4 Research School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University Medical Centre, Maastricht, The Netherlands. Introduction Many children suffering from frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE) have significant cognitive impairments, which may hinder their scholarly development. The underlying mechanism or neuronal correlate of this cognitive co-morbidity has not yet been unraveled. Using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI), a technique that enables the measurement of intrinsic functional connections in the brain, we investigated whether a quantitative analysis of cerebral network characteristics might be associated with epilepsy and co-morbid cognitive problems. Methods We included 37 children with FLE, compared them with 41 healthy age-matched controls, and determined their cognitive performance by means of a cognitive visual searching task. A connectivity matrix was generated for each subject by calculating the correlation of the time-signals of 82 cortical and sub-cortical brain regions. From this connectivity matrix network parameters were calculated. Results In children with FLE, decreasing cognitive performance was accompanied by higher modularity scores and a different modular organization of the brain. Conclusions Cognitively impaired patients showed highest modularity scores, implying that the constituting sub-networks are less mutually connected. Therefore, it is concluded they have a more profound deterioration in the organization of functional networks. We suggest that cognitive problems might be partially related to this abnormal large-scale functional connectivity of the brain.
99 EURON and THEME joint meeting 2011 Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a bridge between depression and Alzheimer’s disease Tim Vanmierlo, Jochen De Vry, Caroline Hammels, Annerieke Sierksma, Denise Hermes, Harry Steinbusch and Jos Prickaerts. School for Mental Health and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands There is ample evidence suggesting that a history of major depression constitutes a risk factor for the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) later in life. Decreased levels of the growth factor brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) play a key role in the reduced plasticity in the hippocampus of patients with depression as well as in patients with AD. We hypothesize that hippocampal overexpression of tropomyosine receptor kinase (TrkB), the high affinity receptor of BDNF, will attenuate and delay the onset of AD pathology. To test this hypothesis we used the APPswe/PS1dE9 mouse model of AD. Hippocampal TrkB overexpression was established via a current controlled stereotactic microelectroporation of a plasmid stably expressing TrkB at the start of AD pathology, i.e. plaques formation, at 6 months of age. Memory was scored at 7 months of age, when cognitive decline is expected to start, in the object location task, the Morris water escape maze and the spatial alteration Y-maze. In addition, depression and anxiety related behavior were respectively assessed in the sucrose preference test, the forced swim task and the elevated zero maze. Electroporation efficiency will be validated by immunohistochemistry (IHC). Manifestation of the AD pathology on the molecular level will be quantified by ELISA and IHC. First results showed surprisingly that TrkB overexpression in the hippocampus impaired object location memory in our AD mice. In contrast, depression–like behavior in the forced swim test was attenuated in these AD mice. No effects of TrkB overexpression were observed in wild-type control mice. Biochemical and IHC analyses are underway to further investigate this possible TrkB-mediated distinction in cognitive and affective behavior in AD mice.
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EURON and THEME joint PhD meeting U
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The local organizing committee: Pro
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Information about THEME 3 EURON and
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EURON a short introduction 7 EURON
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Programme 13 EURON and THEME joint
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Thursday September 22 nd 9:00 - 10:
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Friday September 23 rd 17 EURON and
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Poster presentations 19 EURON and T
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EURON Lecture Frank Kirchhoff ADDRE
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ABSTRACT 25 EURON and THEME joint m
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THEME Lecture Eckhard Mandelkow POS
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Abstracts 31 EURON and THEME joint
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33 Euron PhD meeting 2010 Methodolo
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Page 105 and 106: List of Participants 103 EURON and
Page 107 and 108: Nuersailike Abuduwali University of
Page 109 and 110: Marianne Eisenhardt University of B
Page 111 and 112: Sabine Klein University of Bonn PhD
Page 113 and 114: Viktoriya Peeva University of Bonn
Page 115: Sylvie van der Kruijs Maastricht Un
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