4Brain

Background and research focus

Background

4Brain is a multidisciplinary research group focusing on translational neuroscientific research in epilepsy, stroke, Multiple Sclerosis, and cognitive problems, with a specific expertise on neuromodulation.

Website 4Brain

Research focus

Neuroscientists within 4BRAIN focus on translational neuroscience to unravel the pathophysiology of neuropsychiatric disorders and to develop novel therapies. Multimodal neuroscience techniques are used to excel in the neuroscience field and bridge preclinical and clinical research. The focus of our preclinical research is on advanced recording and neuromodulation techniques in various models for neuropsychiatric diseases to understand their pathogenesis and search for new treatments. The focus of our clinical research is on multimodal clinical techniques including neurophysiology, imaging and neuropsychology and on the modulation of aberrant brain function using both non-invasive and invasive neuromodulatory treatments.

Members

Professors and Guest Professors

Paul Boon

Evelien Carrette (contact person)

Veerle De Herdt

Guy Laureys

Alfred Meurs

Marijke Miatton

Robrecht Raedt

Kristl Vonck

Wytse Wadman

Postdoctoral researchers

Jana Desloovere

Stephanie Hödl

Lars Emil Larsen

Ann Mertens

Silke Proesmans

Mathieu Sprengers

Wouter Van Lysebettens

PhD candidates

Helen Bachmann

Sofie Carrette

Erine Craey

Stefanie Gadeyne

Simona Manzella

Lien Naert (Department of Experimental psychology)

Ruben Schoeters (Department of Information technology)

Jeroen Spanoghe

Nicolas Vandenbussche (Ghent University Hospital)

Liesbeth Van Hijfte (Ghent University Hospital)

Kristof Verhoeven (Ghent University Hospital)

Technical staff

Ine Dauwe (Ghent University Hospital)

Jeroen Van Aken (extern)

National and international collaborations

National

UGent 

  • GHEP-lab: Chris Baeken, Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt 

  • Infinity: Chris Vanhove 

  • Department for Microsystems Technology (CMST): Jan Van Fleteren,  Frederik Leys 

  • Medicinal Chemistry: Serge Van Calenberg

KU Leuven 

  • Laboratory for Neuro- and Psychophysiology: Marc Van Hulle 

  • Research Group for Neurobiology and Gene Therapy: Veerle Baekelandt 

  • NERF: Fabian Kloosterman

VUB 

  • Center for Neurosciences: Ilse Smolders, Dimitri De Bundel, Ann Massie, Ann Van Eeckhaut  (formal longstanding collaboration via AMIE) 

ULB-Erasme 

  • Laboratoire de Cartography fonctionelle du Cerveau & MEG unit

UCL-Louvain 

  • Institute for Neuroscience: Philippe Gailly, Jean-Noel Octave

International

  • Technical University Eindhoven: Bert Aldenkamp, Jan Bergmans, Rob Mestrom, Sveta Zinger, Maarten Paulides, Massimo Mischi, … 
  • Donders Institute: Lennart Verhagen 
  • University of IRVINE: Bruce McNaughton 
  • University of Barcelona: Francisco Ciruela

Defended PhDs (last 5 years)

Preclinical evaluation of chemogenetics as a new treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy

Jana Desloovere (2022)

Investigating the perihematomal changes after intracerebral hemorrhage in the rat collagenase model using diffusion-weighted MRI and [18F]-FDG PET : a new approach for data-driven intensity normalization and voxel-based analysis of [18F]-FDG PET

Silke Proesmans (2022)

Optogenetic modulation of hippocampal excitability and seizures

Anirudh Acharya (2022)

Post-stroke epilepsy in an animal model for intracerebral hemorrhage : optimization of the rat collagenase model

Charlotte Germonpré (2021)

The potential of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation to improve epilepsy and cognition

Ann Mertens (2021)

Exploration of the effects of vagus nerve stimulation on tumor growth in a preclinical model for glioma-related epilepsy and identification of a marker for effective stimulation

Charlotte Bouckaert (2021)

Longitudinal structural and functional brain network changes during epileptogenesis in a rat model of temporal lobe epilepsy

Emma Christiaen (2021)

Optimization of chemogenetic modulation of the locus coeruleus in rat to study its relation to hippocampal excitability

Latoya Stevens (2021)

A friend in need is a friend indeed : the benefits of the Human-Animal Bond during challenging times

Ana Martos Martinez-Caja (2021)

Neurophysiological characteristics of drug resistant epilepsy patients and response to vagus nerve stimulation

Stephanie Hödl (2021)

Proteinopathies of front-temporal lobar degeneration: investigating the impact of vascular contributions 

Anne Sieben (2021)

Dysphagia, dysarthria and aphasia post-stroke : from epidemiology to technology-delivered aphasia therapy

Elien De Cock (2021)

Chemogenetic neuromodulation in a rat model of epilepsy

Marie-Gabrielle Goossens (2021)

Temperature as a confounder on vagus nerve stimulation induced brain excitability modulation in rats

Wouter Van Lysebettens (2020)

Deep brain stimulation for drug-resistant epilepsy: efficacy and mechanism of action

Mathieu Sprengers (2020)

The potential of multimodal neuroimaging to personalize transcranial magnetic stimulation treatment protocols

Deborah Klooster (2019)

Understanding consumers' food experience through measurement of explicit and implicit responses

Sofie Lagast (2017)

MEG and MRI in diagnostics of epilepsy: an explorative study in novel approaches of epilepsy diagnostics

Albert Colon (2017)

Investigation of a role of uric acid in experimental seizure models

Lisa Thyrion (2016)

Investigation of the neurophysiological mechanisms of vagus nerve stimulation

Lars Emil Larsen (2016)

Event-related potentials in patients with refractory epilepsy

Leen De Taeye (2015)

Vagus nerve stimulation for epilepsy and depression: mechanism of action and stimulation parameters

Annelies Grimonprez (2015)

Electrical cortical stimulation, and the RF-amide and orexin neuropeptide systems as alternative treatments in refractory epilepsy

Ine Buffel (2015)

Hippocampal deep brain stimulation for drug resistant epilepsy in a rodent model

Bregt Van Nieuwenhuyse (2015)