Characterisation of neuroinflammation in an epilepsy model by means of longitudinal in vivo PET/MRI imaging.

Various brain injuries in humans are associated with the acute occurrence of seizures and an increased risk of developing epilepsy after a latent period. An important feature regulating the reorganization of the neuronal network after the occurrence of a neuronal insult is neuroinflammation. Most recently, the hypothesis has been postulated that inflammatory processeswithin the brain mght constitute a common and crucial mechanism in the pathophysiology of seizures and epilepsy. Advances in small animal imaging allow researchers, for the first time, to study structural and functional changes during the development of epilepsy in living animals. This comprehensive innovative project will develop thorough in vivo methodologies with histologicalvalidation in a rodent model for temporal lobe epilepsy. Following, a longitudinal study will allow investigating the development of structural brain abnormalities and neuroinflammation in relation to the occurrence of epileptic seizures utilising in vivo PET/MRI imaging. In a last phase, the project will set a translational framework for evaluating novel anti-inflammatory therapies using amultimodal imaging approach, which will facilitate transferring knowledge from bench to bed.Briefly, this project may lead to novel diagnostic imaging biomarkers for the identification of patients at risk and provide rationale for neuroprotective treatment strategies.

Keywords:PET-CT, BIO-IMAGING, EPILEPSY, NEUROLOGICAL DISEASES

Disciplines:Multimedia processing, Biological system engineering, Signal processing, Neurosciences, Biological and physiological psychology, Cognitive science and intelligent systems, Developmental psychology and ageing