Projects
Neurotoxicity of anesthetics in the developing brain of fetal rabbits and neuroprotective agents KU Leuven
There is increasing concern that exposure of the developing brain to anesthetics might be associated with impaired neurodevelopmental outcome in children undergoing surgery during their early life or even before birth.
Preclinical experiments in rodents and non-human primates have consistently shown that virtually all commonly used anesthetics cause apoptotic neurodegeneration that result in persisting neurocognitive impairment. In ...
Study of the role of human-specific gene duplications in neuronal and synaptic development KU Leuven
The brain profoundly evolved in the human lineage, increasing in size and complexity. This is thought to be linked to divergence in neurodevelopmental mechanisms in the human lineage, most of which remaining unknown. One striking feature about human neural development is that specific classes of neurons of the cerebral cortex display neotenic features characterized by protracted development of dendrites and synapses, from growth to pruning. ...
Active ultra-flexible, high-density electrode arrays for chronic deep brain neural interfacing KU Leuven
Neurologic disorders and brain diseases are becoming the number one global health burden. Together with an increasing mortality rate, the cost and pressure on the healthcare system is growing annually. Action must be taken now to limit the number of neurological disease cases in the future. That is why there is such a strong motivation in neuroscience to find cures and patient-specific treatments for nervous system-related diseases and to get ...
How subjective value shapes sensory representations in the adult brain. KU Leuven
Many forms of learning rely on the association of neutral stimuli with rewarding or aversive experiences. It is currently unknown i) how the (sub)cortical representations of sensory cues change during and after the learning process and ii) which structures and networks are critically involved in driving such changes. We aim to address these questions using a multimodal, interdisciplinary approach involving highly-refined correlational and ...
A neurosurgical approach to brain networks (FKM/16) KU Leuven
The goal of our research is an attempt to bridge the gap between clinical and basic neuroscience using intracranial recordings and fMRI in human patients and
compare these results with non-human primate studies. Combining electrophysiological recordings and functional imaging will allow us to gain more insights in widely applicable but indirect imaging methods. The goal of our current research is a detailed investigation of brain areas ...
A neurosurgical approach to brain networks KU Leuven
Nanobodies to cross the blood-brain barrier. KU Leuven
Effective delivery of antibodies across the blood–brain barrier (BBB) is a serious limiting factor in the further development of antibody based therapies for AD but also for other diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). The BBB is composed of a tightly sealed monolayer of brain endothelial cells (BECs), which normally precludes free exchanges of solutes between blood and brain (and vice versa), including biologics, but yet enabling the ...
NEW ANAESTHETIC STRATEGIES FOR PAEDIATRIC AND FOETAL INTERVENTIONS TO IMPROVE HAEMODYNAMIC STABILITY AND NEUROCOGNITIVE OUTCOME KU Leuven
General anesthesia in young children has reached such a level of safety in terms of immediate outcome that indications are growing disproportionally. General anesthesia is increasingly used to provide not only ideal and safe conditions for invasive surgical interventions, but also for diagnostic and interventional procedures. With the advances in prenatal diagnosis and therapy, the indications for fetal surgery continue to expand, and ...
Developing an in vivo humanized mouse model suitable for the study of hepatotropic viral infection KU Leuven
The pharmaceutical industry is in high need of efficient and physiologically relevant in vitro and in vivo models to study hepatotropic viruses, screen for potential antiviral drugs and test for liver toxicity that might be caused by these and other drugs. Current in vitro models rely on primary human hepatocytes (PHHs) and hepatoma cell lines, which have major drawbacks. As an alternative hepatocyte source, the use of human pluripotent stem ...