Adaptive and pathological connectivity responses in Parkinson’s disease brain networks

Where

Thomas W. Keating Bioresearch Building (BIO5), Room 103
1657 E. Helen St., Tucson, AZ 85719

Event Description

Brain imaging has been used extensively to identify and validate disease-specific functional networks as biomarkers in neurodegenerative disorders. Although disease networks are highly reproducible across patient populations, it is not known whether these topographies reflect pathological connectivity patterns that worsen with advancing disease, or beneficial adaptations that may be promoted by treatment. To distinguish between these possibilities, we used graph theory to study connectivity patterns in an extensively validated metabolic network termed the Parkinson’s disease-related metabolic pattern or PDRP. In particular, we focused on assortativity, a metric that captures the tendency of connections to form between nodes with similar properties. In graph theory, assortativity has been linked to network stability. High values are associated with inefficient information flow through the network, and with increased susceptibility to fragmentation. Low assortativity, by contrast, is defined by greater diversity of connections, resulting in improved efficiency of information flow and greater network robustness. 

Presenter Details

David Eidelberg, MD
Director, Center for Neurosciences
Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research

Eidelberg is the director of the Center for Neurosciences at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research. He is widely regarded for his groundbreaking work on network dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease, dystonia and other brain disorders. Eidelberg has pioneered the use of functional brain imaging to identify disease-specific networks as quantitative biomarkers of underlying pathology in patients and persons at risk and in experimental animal models. His methods are currently in use worldwide to assess disease progression, responses to new therapies and as an aid to clinical diagnosis. Eidelberg has authored over 400 peer-reviewed research articles, reviews and editorials (H-index 103), as well as a published volume. Eidelberg has received numerous grants and awards, including the 2018 Bachmann Strauss Prize for his pioneering research in dystonia. He is a member of the Association of American Physicians. Read more