Abstract

Translational Brain Connectomics

Joanes Grandjean, Research Fellow, Singapore Bioimaging Consortium

A comprehensive understanding of the architecture and function of the healthy and diseased brain, often referred to as the “connectome”, is arguably one of the biggest challenges in neuroscience. Analysis of the brain function using neuroimaging tools provides valuable insight into information processing at the organ level. Functional imaging has been extensively used to map the human brain, to localize brain activity evoked by specific cognitive tasks or estimate large-scale brain networks during rest. These methods have been used to map areas affected by brain disorders. Advances in high field magnets and radio-frequency coils now enable researchers to extend these researches to animal models, where brain circuits can be dissected in details. Studies in animal models offer a strong translational perspective to investigate the molecular mechanisms behind MRI-based fingerprints of human brain disorders, or to partake in the drug development process.