Brain Connectivity

Responsabile: Vecchio Fabrizio
Staff: Miraglia Francesca, Pappalettera Chiara, Nucci Lorenzo, Cacciotti Alessia, Anna Fabbrocino, Frasca Federico

Il laboratorio si dedica allo studio dei network cerebrali per analizzare la connettività funzionale, strutturale ed effettiva, e la complessità cerebrale.
L’obiettivo principale dell’attività di ricerca è comprendere come tali reti subiscano modulazioni sia in condizioni fisiologiche (come durante l’invecchiamento o lo svolgimento di task specifici) sia in condizioni patologiche, come nelle malattie neurodegenerative e non (ad esempio Alzheimer, Stroke, …).
Per raggiungere tale obiettivo, viene utilizzato un ampio spettro di tecniche innovative che arricchiscono l’approccio sperimentale, tra cui la registrazione simultanea di EEG con tecniche di stimolazione cerebrale non invasiva (NIBS), quali TMS, tDCS, tACS, FUS e TPS, oltre alla risonanza magnetica (MRI), per un’integrazione multimodale avanzata.
Uno dei tratti distintivi della nostra ricerca è l’approccio pionieristico alla patologia che coinvolge un’integrazione multimodale di diverse fonti di dati. Oltre ai dati neurofisiologici, vengono incorporate informazioni provenienti da test neuropsicologici e clinici, facilitando una comprensione completa dello stato cognitivo e funzionale del paziente. Questo approccio interdisciplinare permette una comprensione approfondita dello stato cognitivo e funzionale dei pazienti, correlando le valutazioni neurofisiologiche con le osservazioni cliniche. Tale sinergia offre preziosi insight sulla progressione delle malattie e sull’efficacia dei trattamenti di riabilitazione.

Interessi di Ricerca

  • Metodiche neurofisiologiche per il recupero funzionale
  • Analisi del segnale elettroencefalografico mediante tecniche all’avanguardia, quali l’analisi della connettività e complessità cerebrale, e l’utilizzo di algoritmi di Intelligenza Artificiale
  • Nuove metodiche di stimolazione cerebrale non-invasiva per la riabilitazione neuromotoria e cognitiva
  • Valutazione delle modulazioni dei network cerebrali dovute a condizioni fisiologiche e patologiche, inclusi i processi di invecchiamento, con l’obiettivo di identificare biomarcatori e pattern associati alle malattie

Pubblicazioni

  1. Carrarini C, Caraglia N, Quaranta D, Vecchio F, Miraglia F, Giuffrè GM, Pappalettera C, Cacciotti A, Nucci L, Vanacore N, Redolfi A, Perani D, Spadin P,Tagliavini F, Cotelli M, Cappa S, Marra C, Rossini PM. Interceptor Network. Risk factors of dementia in a cohort of individuals with mild cognitive impairment in the Italian Interceptor project. Eur J Neurol. 2025 Feb;32(2):e16591. doi:10.1111/ene.16591. PMID: 39895250.
 
  1. Pappalettera C, Fabbrocino A, Miraglia F, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. Combining non-invasive brain stimulation techniques and EEG markers analysis: an innovative approach to cognitive health in aging. Geroscience. 2025 Jan 31. doi:10.1007/s11357-025-01545-5. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39888586.
 
  1. Miraglia F, Cacciotti A, Vecchio F, Scarpelli S, Gorgoni M, De Gennaro L, Rossini PM. EEG brain networks modulation during sleep onset: the effects of aging. Geroscience. 2024 Dec 23. doi: 10.1007/s11357-024-01473-w. Epub ahead ofprint. PMID: 39714568.
 
  1. Pierantoni L, Vecchio F, Miraglia F, Pecchioli C, Iodice F, Carrarini C, Pinardi M, Pino GD, Micera S, Rossini PM. Effects of cervical transcutaneous spinal direct current stimulation on spinal excitability. Clin Neurophysiol.2024 Dec;168:95-103. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2024.10.011. Epub 2024 Oct 25. PMID:39481135
 
  1. Pappalettera C, Miraglia F, Cacciotti A, Nucci L, Tufo G, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. The impact of virtual reality and distractors on attentional processes: insights from EEG. Pflugers Arch. 2024 Nov;476(11):1727-1742. doi:10.1007/s00424-024-03008-w. Epub 2024 Aug 19. PMID: 39158612.
 
  1. Cacciotti A, Pappalettera C, Miraglia F, Carrarini C, Pecchioli C, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. From data to decisions: AI and functional connectivity for diagnosis, prognosis, and recovery prediction in stroke. Geroscience. 2024 Aug1. doi: 10.1007/s11357-024-01301-1. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39090502.
 
  1. Lombardo FL, Lorenzini P, Mayer F, Massari M, Piscopo P, Bacigalupo I, Ancidoni A, Sciancalepore F, Locuratolo N, Remoli G, Salemme S, Cappa S, Perani D, Spadin P, Tagliavini F, Redolfi A, Cotelli M, Marra C, Caraglia N, Vecchio F, Miraglia F, Rossini PM, Vanacore N. INTERCEPTOR Network. Development of a prediction model of conversion to Alzheimer’s disease in people with mild cognitive impairment: the statistical analysis plan of the INTERCEPTOR project.Diagn Progn Res. 2024 Jul 25;8(1):11. doi: 10.1186/s41512-024-00172-6. PMID:39049042; PMCID: PMC11271065.
 
  1. Pappalettera C, Carrarini C, Cappa S, Caraglia N, Cotelli M, Marra C, Perani D, Redolfi A, Spadin P, Tagliavini F, Vanacore N, Vecchio F, Rossini PM. Challenges to identifying risk versus protective factors in Alzheimer’s disease.Nat Med. 2024 Nov;30(11):3094-3095. doi: 10.1038/s41591-024-03158-5. Epub 2024Jul 18. PMID: 39025966.
 
  1. Pappalettera C, Mansi SA, Arnesano M, Vecchio F. Decoding influences of indoor temperature and light on neural activity: entropy analysis of electroencephalographic signals. Pflugers Arch. 2024 Oct;476(10):1539-1554. doi:10.1007/s00424-024-02988-z. Epub 2024 Jul 16. PMID: 39012352.
 
  1. Carrarini C, Nardulli C, Titti L, Iodice F, Miraglia F, Vecchio F, Rossini PM. Neuropsychological and electrophysiological measurements for diagnosis and prediction of dementia: a review on Machine Learning approach. Ageing Res Rev.2024 Sep;100:102417. doi: 10.1016/j.arr.2024.102417. Epub 2024 Jul 14. PMID:39002643
 
  1. Nucci L, Miraglia F, Pappalettera C, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. Exploring the complexity of EEG patterns in Parkinson’s disease. Geroscience. 2024 Jul 13.doi: 10.1007/s11357-024-01277-y. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38997574.
 
  1. Vecchio F, Miraglia F, Pappalettera C, Nucci L, Cacciotti A, Rossini PM. Small World derived index to distinguish Alzheimer’s type dementia and healthy subjects. Age Ageing. 2024 Jun 1;53(6): afae121. doi: 10.1093/ageing/afae121.PMID: 38935531; PMCID: PMC11210397.
 
  1. Cacciotti A, Pappalettera C, Miraglia F, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. EEG entropy insights in the context of physiological aging and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases: a comprehensive review. Geroscience. 2024 Dec;46(6):5537-5557. doi:10.1007/s11357-024-01185-1. Epub 2024 May 22. PMID: 38776044; PMCID:PMC11493957.
 
  1. Miraglia F, Pappalettera C, Barbati SA, Podda MV, Grassi C, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. Brain complexity in stroke recovery after bihemispheric transcranial direct current stimulation in mice. Brain Commun. 2024 May 13;6(3): fcae137. doi:10.1093/braincomms/fcae137. PMID: 38741663; PMCID: PMC11089417.
 
  1. Pappalettera C, Carrarini C, Miraglia F, Vecchio F, Rossini PM. Cognitive resilience/reserve: Myth or reality? A review of definitions and measurement methods. Alzheimers Dement. 2024 May;20(5):3567-3586. doi: 10.1002/alz.13744.Epub 2024 Mar 13. PMID: 38477378; PMCID: PMC11095447.
 
  1. Haraldsen IH, Hatlestad-Hall C, Marra C, Renvall H, Maestú F, Acosta-Hernández J, Alfonsin S, Andersson V, Anand A, Ayllón V, Babic A, Belhadi A,Birck C, Bruña R, Caraglia N, Carrarini C, Christensen E, Cicchetti A, DaugbjergS, Di Bidino R, Diaz-Ponce A, Drews A, Giuffrè GM, Georges J, Gil-Gregorio P,Gove D, Govers TM, Hallock H, Hietanen M, Holmen L, Hotta J, Kaski S, Khadka R,Kinnunen AS, Koivisto AM, Kulashekhar S, Larsen D, Liljeström M, Lind PG, MarcosDolado A, Marshall S, Merz S, Miraglia F, Montonen J, Mäntynen V, Øksengård AR,Olazarán J, Paajanen T, Peña JM, Peña L, Peniche DL, Perez AS, Radwan M,Ramírez-Toraño F, Rodríguez-Pedrero A, Saarinen T, Salas-Carrillo M, Salmelin R,Sousa S, Suyuthi A, Toft M, Toharia P, Tveitstøl T, Tveter M, Upreti R,Vermeulen RJ, Vecchio F, Yazidi A, Rossini PM. Intelligent digital tools forscreening of brain connectivity and dementia risk estimation in people affected by mild cognitive impairment: the AI-Mind clinical study protocol. FrontNeurorobot. 2024 Jan 5;17: 1289406. doi: 10.3389/fnbot.2023.1289406. PMID:38250599; PMCID: PMC10796757.
 
  1. Nucci L, Miraglia F, Pappalettera C, Micera S, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. Modulation of brain signals during sensorimotor and imaging tasks in a person with an implanted upper-limb prosthesis following amputation of the left hand.Ann Phys Rehabil Med. 2024 Apr;67(3):101802. doi: 10.1016/j.rehab.2023.101802.Epub 2023 Dec 19. PMID: 38118245.
 
  1. Cacciotti A, Pappalettera C, Miraglia F, Valeriani L, Judica E, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. Complexity analysis from EEG data in congestive heart failure: A study via approximate entropy. Acta Physiol (Oxf). 2023 Jun;238(2):e13979. doi:10.1111/apha.13979. Epub 2023 Apr 30. PMID: 37070962.
 
  1. Miraglia F, Pappalettera C, Di Ienno S, Nucci L, Cacciotti A, Manenti R,Judica E, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. The Effects of Directional and Non-Directional Stimuli during a Visuomotor Task and Their Correlation with Reaction Time: An ERP Study. Sensors (Basel). 2023 Mar 15;23(6):3143. doi: 10.3390/s23063143.PMID: 36991853; PMCID: PMC10058543.
 
  1. Miraglia F, Pappalettera C, Guglielmi V, Cacciotti A, Manenti R, Judica E, Vecchio F, Rossini PM. The combination of hyperventilation test and graph theory parameters to characterize EEG changes in mild cognitive impairment (MCI)condition. Geroscience. 2023 Jun;45(3):1857-1867. doi:10.1007/s11357-023-00733-5. Epub 2023 Jan 24. PMID: 36692591; PMCID:PMC10400506.
 
  1. Rossini PM, Miraglia F, Vecchio F. Commentary on Comparison of Machine Learning-based Approaches to Predict the Conversion to Alzheimer’s Disease from Mild Cognitive Impairment. Neuroscience. 2023 Mar 15;514:141-142. doi:10.1016/j.neuroscience.2022.12.018. Epub 2022 Dec 30. PMID: 36592944.
 
  1. Pappalettera C, Cacciotti A, Nucci L, Miraglia F, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. Approximate entropy analysis across electroencephalographic rhythmic frequency bands during physiological aging of human brain. Geroscience. 2023Apr;45(2):1131-1145. doi: 10.1007/s11357-022-00710-4. Epub 2022 Dec 20. PMID:36538178; PMCID: PMC9886767.
 
  1. Vecchio F, Pappalettera C, Miraglia F, Deinite G, Manenti R, Judica E, Caliandro P, Rossini PM. Prognostic Role of Hemispherical Functional Connectivity in Stroke: A Study via Graph Theory Versus Coherence of Electroencephalography Rhythms. Stroke. 2023 Feb;54(2):499-508. doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.122.040747. Epub 2022 Nov 23. PMID: 36416129.
 
  1. Vecchio F, Nucci L, Pappalettera C, Miraglia F, Iacoviello D, Rossini PM.Time-frequency analysis of brain activity in response to directional and non-directional visual stimuli: an event related spectral perturbations (ERSP)study. J Neural Eng. 2022 Nov 9;19(6). doi: 10.1088/1741-2552/ac9c96. PMID:36270505
 
  1. Ferreri F, Miraglia F, Vecchio F, Manzo N, Cotelli M, Judica E, Rossini PM. Electroencephalographic hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Int J Psychophysiol.2022 Nov;181:85-94. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpsycho.2022.08.005. Epub 2022 Aug 31. PMID:36055410
 
  1. Vecchio F. Cognitive training and neuromodulation for Alzheimer treatment. Aging (Albany NY). 2022 Apr;14(9):3722-3723. doi: 10.18632/aging.204044. Epub2022 Apr 27. PMID: 35478169; PMCID: PMC9134967.
 
  1. Porcaro C, Vecchio F, Miraglia F, Zito G, Rossini PM. Dynamics of the Cognitive Brain Wave P3b at Rest for Alzheimer Dementia Prediction in Mild Cognitive Impairment. Int J Neural Syst. 2022 May;32(5):2250022. doi:10.1142/S0129065722500228. Epub 2022 Apr 18. PMID: 35435134.
 
  1. Vecchio F, Alù F, Orticoni A, Miraglia F, Judica E, Cotelli M, Rossini PM. Performance prediction in a visuo-motor task: the contribution of EEG analysis. Cogn Neurodyn. 2022 Apr;16(2):297-308. doi: 10.1007/s11571-021-09713-x. Epub2021 Sep 11. PMID: 35401869; PMCID: PMC8934791.
 
  1. Rossini PM, Miraglia F, Vecchio F. Early dementia diagnosis, MCI-to-dementia risk prediction, and the role of machine learning methods for feature extraction from integrated biomarkers, in particular for EEG signal analysis. Alzheimers Dement. 2022 Dec;18(12):2699-2706. doi: 10.1002/alz.12645. Epub 2022 Apr 7.PMID: 35388959; PMCID: PMC10083993.
 
  1. Gourdeau D, Potvin O, Archambault P, Chartrand-Lefebvre C, Dieumegarde L,Forghani R, Gagné C, Hains A, Hornstein D, Le H, Lemieux S, Lévesque MH, MartinD, Rosenbloom L, Tang A, Vecchio F, Yang I, Duchesne N, Duchesne S. Tracking and predicting COVID-19 radiological trajectory on chest X-rays using deep learning.Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 4;12(1):5616. doi: 10.1038/s41598-022-09356-w. PMID: 35379856;PMCID: PMC8978501.
 
  1. Pappalettera C, Miraglia F, Cotelli M, Rossini PM, Vecchio F. Analysis of complexity in the EEG activity of Parkinson’s disease patients by means of approximate entropy. Geroscience. 2022 Jun;44(3):1599-1607. doi:10.1007/s11357-022-00552-0. Epub 2022 Mar 28. PMID: 35344121; PMCID: PMC9213590.
 
  1. Miraglia F, Vecchio F, Pappalettera C, Nucci L, Cotelli M, Judica E, Ferreri F, Rossini PM. Brain Connectivity and Graph Theory Analysis in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease: The Contribution of Electrophysiological Techniques. BrainSci. 2022 Mar 18;12(3):402. doi: 10.3390/brainsci12030402. PMID: 35326358;PMCID: PMC8946843.
 
  1. Longo V, Barbati SA, Re A, Paciello F, Bolla M, Rinaudo M, Miraglia F, Alù F, Di Donna MG, Vecchio F, Rossini PM, Podda MV, Grassi C. Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Enhances Neuroplasticity and Accelerates Motor Recovery in aStroke Mouse Model. Stroke. 2022 May;53(5):1746-1758. doi:10.1161/STROKEAHA.121.034200. Epub 2022 Mar 16. PMID: 35291824.
 
  1. Rossini PM, Miraglia F, Vecchio F, Di Iorio R, Iodice F, Cotelli M. General principles of brain electromagnetic rhythmic oscillations and implications for neuroplasticity. Handb Clin Neurol. 2022;184:221-237. doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-819410-2.00012-6. PMID: 35034737.
 
  1. Vecchio F, Quaranta D, Miraglia F, Pappalettera C, Di Iorio R, L’Abbate F, Cotelli M, Marra C, Rossini PM. Neuronavigated Magnetic Stimulation combined with cognitive training for Alzheimer’s patients: an EEG graph study. Geroscience. 2022 Feb;44(1):159-172. doi: 10.1007/s11357-021-00508-w. Epub 2021Dec 31. PMID: 34970718; PMCID: PMC8811083.
 
  1. Costa C, Vecchio F, Romoli M, Miraglia F, Nardi Cesarini E, Alù F, Calabresi P, Rossini PM. Cognitive Decline Risk Stratification in People with Late-Onset Epilepsy of Unknown Etiology: An Electroencephalographic Connectivity and Graph Theory Pilot Study. J Alzheimers Dis. 2022;88(3):893-901. doi:10.3233/JAD-210350. PMID: 34842184.
 
  1. Miraglia F, Vecchio F, Pellicciari MC, Cespon J, Rossini PM. Brain Networks Modulation in Young and Old Subjects During Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation Applied on Prefrontal and Parietal Cortex. Int J Neural Syst. 2022Jan;32(1):2150056. doi: 10.1142/S0129065721500568. Epub 2021 Oct 15. PMID:34651550
 
  1. Vecchio F, Miraglia F, Alù F, Judica E, Cotelli M, Pellicciari MC, Rossini PM. Human Brain Networks in Physiological and Pathological Aging: Reproducibility of Electroencephalogram Graph Theoretical Analysis in Cortical Connectivity. Brain Connect. 2022 Feb;12(1):41-51. doi: 10.1089/brain.2020.0824.Epub 2021 Dec 24. PMID: 33797981.
Pubblicazioni: PubMed

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