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Research Programmes

 

Applied Neuroscience

Doc. MUDr. Irena Rektorová, Ph.D.
Research Group Leader

THEMATIC RESEARCH FOCUS

RESEARCH AREAS

  • Study of cortico-subcortical connections in neurodegenerative diseases and epilepsy
  • Study of the brain functional connectivity in neurodegenerative and psychiatric diseases
  • Study of functional connectivity in higher order cognitive dysfunctions
  • Study of speech and its pathophysiological mechanisms in neurological and psychiatric disorders
  • Study of pathophysiological mechanisms of peripheral and central neuropathic pain
  • Study of immunopathogenesis and immunogenetics of autoimmune diseases
  • Study of immunopathogenesis and clinical manifestation of paraneoplastic neurological syndromes
  • Study of neurological complications of critical illness
  • Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS): searching for new stimulation parameters for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders, evaluation of short-term and long-term effect of rTMS on clinical and cognitive functions, research of brain stimulation correlates with emphasis on prediction and choice of the best candidates for this treatment
  • Neuropsychology: searching for cognitive endophenotypes of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and neurodegenerative brain diseases, evaluation of neurocognitive rehabilitation in these patient populations, research aimed at “biological” markers of neurocognitive rehabilitation
  • Biological markers of schizophrenia and neurodegenerative brain diseases: detection of biological markers and their use for the prediction of progression, prognosis and therapeutic outcomes (clinical, biochemical, neuroimaging, and genetic markers)
  • Psychopharmacology: research of antipsychotic on-set, evaluation of subjective perception and objective assessment of clinical state, research of the treatment adherence
  • Clinically oriented research focused on individual-tailored treatment of psychotic, neurodegenerative and epileptic disorders
  • Clinical correlates of the treatment of eating disorders associated with the activity of CYP2D6 and P-glycoprotein polymorphism
  • Paroxetine metabolism and cytochrome P450 2D6: towards predictive models
  • Links among activity of CYP2D6, P-glycoprotein polymorphism and sexual function during the treatment with paroxetine

MAIN OBJECTIVES

  • Recognition of cellular and molecular mechanisms of selected neurological disorders.
  • Development of new molecular and functional imaging methods and their translation into clinical neuroscience.
  • Usage of multimodal approach to the advanced study of cognitive and behavioural functions.

CONTENT OF RESEARCH

Cellular and molecular neurobiology of nerve regeneration and neuropathic pain induction

The correlation of the results of clinical evaluation, the battery of neurophysiological methods (EMG, nerve conduction studies, heart rate variability testing including spectral analysis, SEP, quantitative sensory testing thermal and vibratory sensation) and the evaluation of intra-and subepidermal nerve fibre density from skin biopsies together with the quantification of regenerating nerve fibres in these samples, and their comparison with the same tests performed in a control group of healthy volunteers will help us improve our knowledge of the pathophysiology of neuropathic pain in diabetic neuropathy patients. Together with an improvement in the understanding of the time-course of neuropathy and neuropathic pain, our findings may contribute to the optimisation of therapy and the prevention of painful neuropathy.

Principles in neural connectivity underlying normal and pathological brain processing

The research group will participate in the work package in terms of the brain’s capacity to self-reorganize patterns and systems of connections in response to diverse external and internal influences. Special attention will also be paid to studies of changes in neural connectivity in neurodegenerative and psychiatric disorders. The multi-level research of neural connectivity and plasticity will cover modifications of neurochemical properties, changes in the wiring between cells, and changes in the architecture of neurocognitive networks on the systemic level. Association with other biological markers, e.g. CSF specific proteins, plasma markers and clinical and cognitive measures will also be studied.

Genetics and epigenetics of neuropsychiatric diseases

The research group will be focused on the following topics:

  • Familial degenerative diseases and neurodegenerative dementias
  • Genetic diagnosis and new treatment strategies for some neurodegenerative dementias and other neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s disease
  • Induction of pluripotent stem cells from patient somatic cells and the differentiation of pluripotent stem cells into defined neuronal types; the expression and epigenetic profiling of differentiated cells; using these cells as model systems for testing potential molecular therapies
  • Immunogenetics of autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis
  • Clinical correlates of the treatment of eating disorders associated with the activity of CYP2D6 and P-glycoprotein polymorphism, links among activity of CYP2D6, P-glycoprotein polymorphism and sexual function during treatment

Mechanisms of CNS adaptation on pathological factors and therapy

The research group will be focused on the impact of neurodegenerative diseases such as dystonia, Parkinson’s disease, neurodegenerative dementias, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, pain and others on the structural measures and functional properties of the brain will be studied using the high field MR techniques (event related fMR and spectroscopy, tractography and others), the high frequency event related electrophysiological methods, neuromodulation techniques. The results of the instrumental investigations will be compared with clinical, neuropsychological and behavioural data and therapy outcome. The histological and molecular basis as well as the genetic background of diseases will be compared with advanced imaging and functional techniques and with clinical data. The influence of pharmacotherapy and neurostimulation methods on brain properties will be studied using the measures of brain excitability (TMS), the pharmacoMR, cellular properties in operatively obtained brain tissue and other methods. The response of the brain to the treatments will be studied.

KEY RESEARCH EQUIPMENT

PLANNED RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE

Core Facility

The research group will be one of the principal users of the equipment available within CEITEC Molecular and Functional Imaging Core Facility.

CURRENT RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE

  • MR Siemens Magnetom Symphony 1.5T, MR compatible EEG (BrainAmp) 32 channels, Video EEG system (Alien) 128 channels, EEG system (BrainScope) 96 channels, TMS (rTMS) Super Rapid MAGSTIM Stimulator.
  • MR Phillips Achieva 1.5 T, Nicolet Viking Ive EMG/EP 4 channels, Keypoint Portable EMG/EP 4 channels, TSA-II Thermal Sensory Analyzer (Medoc), VSA-3000 Vibratory Sensory Analyser, as an accessory to TSA (Medoc), Computerised variant of VAS for TSA II (Medoc), Spectral analyser of heart rate variabiality VarCor PF7.
  • The Magstim Super Rapid stimulation device (rTMS) and two magnetic stimulators (Magstim 200) interconnected using a Bistim module (Magstim, Dyfed, UK).

MAIN PROJECTS

The Internal Organisation and Neurobiological Mechanisms of Functional CNS Systems under Normal and Pathological Conditions (MSM0021622404), Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, 2005-2011, I. Rektor, Masaryk University.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

  • REKTOROVA, I., SROVNALOVA, H., KUBIKOVA, R., PRASEK, J. Striatal dopamine transporter imaging correlates with depressive symptoms and tower of London task performance in Parkinson‘s disease. Mov Disord. 2008, 23, p. 1580-1587.
  • REKTOROVA, I., MATEJ, R. Anterior opercular syndrome in frontotemporal lobar degeneration with ubiquitin-only immunoreactive neuronal changes. Eur J Neurol. 2007, 14, p. 697-700.
  • PRIKRYL, R., KASPAREK, T., SKOTAKOVA, S., USTOHAL, L., KUCEROVA, H., CESKOVA, E. Treatment of negative symptoms of schizophrenia using repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation in a double-blind, randomized controlled study. Schizophr Res. 2007, 95, p. 151-157.
  • BEDNARIK, J., VONDRACEK, P., DUSEK, L., MORAVCOVA, E., CUNDRLE, I. Risk factors for critical illness polyneuromyopathy. J Neurol. 2005, 252, p. 343-351.
  • REKTOR, I., BARES, M., KANOVSKY, P., BRAZDIL, M., KLAJBLOVA, I., STREITOVA, H., REKTOROVA, I., SOCHURKOVA, D., KUBOVA, D., KUBA, R., DANIEL, P. Cognitive potentials in the basal ganglia-frontocortical circuits. An intracerebral recording study. Exp Brain Res. 2004, 158, p. 289-301.

 

New working position:  Postdoctoral research position in basic research

http://www.ceitec.eu/programs/neuroscience/applied-neuroscience/

 

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