Neurology

With the aging population and demographic changes, the number of people affected by neurological, neuropsychological and psychiatric diseases is increasing. This increase will pose a heavy burden on society and the health care system. Consequently, the need to understand and to develop disease modifying strategies is paramount. In a broad sense, the aim of the neurology research line within C3Te is to understand, repair, replace, enhance, modulate or otherwise exploit the properties of the neural system to stimulate patient care. Advanced neuroimaging techniques are used, such as fMRI to discover related brain network abnormalities which can contribute to reducing cognitive problems in patients with epilepsy.   Also, innovative (electrical) neurostimulation approaches are investigated, such as transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (tVNS) and transcutaneous direct current stimulation (tDCS) to reduce the number of seizures in epileptic patients and make them less severe. Furthermore, to detect and predict epileptic seizures, the gold standard electroencephalogram (EEG) is extended with measurements on heart rate variabilities and brain-inspired machine learning and pattern recognition. As a goal for the future, researchers are developing (ultra)low-power electronics that allow for ambulatory and minimally obtrusive monitoring of brain function in the home setting.

Most of the research lines are integrated within the NeuroPlatform multidisciplinary brain research program.

The specific program of the Neurology research is outline in the Roadmap Neurology.