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Lines of investigation
Neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration are hot topics in brain research, and they have become very promising targets for the development of novel disease-modifying treatments in pathological conditions. In order to characterize there aspects of brain tissue in both preclinical and human models, non-invasive tools are needed to measure biomarkers of the inflammatory state and salient microstructural characteristics, such as the level of myelination, axonal diameter and density.
Our research focuses on the development, optimization and application of innovative, non-invasive and translational resonance imaging tools, relevant to both basic and clinical research. The objective is to characterize such biomarkers throughout life, with special attention to healthy aging, as well as identify early biomarkers, which can precede and predict diseases such as multiple sclerosis and Alzheimer’s, all taking into account the gender dimension. An additional line of research is dedicated to developing computational approaches based on machine learning so that the developed methodologies can be optimally transferred to the clinic.
Representative Publications
- A translational MRI approach to validate acute axonal damage detection as an early event in multiple sclerosis. Cerdán Cerdá A, Toschi N, Treaba CA, Barletta V, Herranz E, Mehndiratta A, Gomez-Sanchez JA, Mainero C & De Santis S. eLife 2024 in press https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.79169
- Mapping microglia and astrocyte activation in vivo using diffusion MRI Raquel Garcia-Hernandez, Antonio Cerdán Cerdá, Alejandro Trouve Carpena , Mark Drakesmith2, Kristin Koller, Derek K Jones , Santiago Canals , Silvia De Santis Sci Adv. 2022 8(21):eabq2923 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abq2923
- Multishell diffusion imaging reveals sex-specific trajectories of early white matter degeneration in normal aging Toschi N, Gisbert RA, Passamonti L, Canals S, De Santis S Neurobiol Aging 2020 86:191 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.11.014
- Evidence of early microstructural white matter abnormalities in multiple sclerosis from multi-shell diffusion MRI De Santis S, Granberg T, Ouellette R, Treaba CA, Herranz E, Fan Q, Mainero C, Toschi N Neuroimage Clin 2019 22:101699 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101699
- Microstructural White Matter Alterations in Men With Alcohol Use Disorder and Rats With Excessive Alcohol Consumption During Early Abstinence De Santis S, Bach P, Pérez-Cervera L, Cosa-Linan A, Weil G, Vollstädt-Klein S, Hermann D, Kiefer F, Kirsch P, Ciccocioppo R, Sommer WH, Canals S JAMA Psychiatry 2019 76(7):749 https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0318
Group leader
Tenure-Track Scientist
Predoctoral Researcher
Predoctoral Researcher
Predoctoral Researcher
- A translational MRI approach to validate acute axonal damage detection as an early event in multiple sclerosis. Cerdán Cerdá A, Toschi N, Treaba CA, Barletta V, Herranz E, Mehndiratta A, Gomez-Sanchez JA, Mainero C & De Santis S. eLife 2024 in press https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.79169
- Multishell diffusion MRI reveals whole-brain white matter changes in HIV. Silvia Minosse Eliseo Picchi , Allegra Conti , Francesca di Giuliano , Francesco di Ciò, Loredana Sarmati , Elisabetta Teti , Silvia de Santis , Massimo Andreoni , Roberto Floris, Maria Guerrisi , Francesco Garaci , Nicola Toschi Hum Brain Mapp. 2023 44 (15): 5113-5124 https://doi.org/10.1002/hbm.26448
- Chapter: Brain Microstructure in Alcohol Addiction: Characterization of Diffusion-Based MRI Biomarkers, Neuropathological Substrates, and Functional Consequences Silvia De Santis, Mohamed Kotb Selim & Santiago Canals Book. Alcohol and Alcohol-related Diseases. Springer, Cham. 2023 In: Mueller, S., Heilig, M. (eds) pp 493–508 https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-32483-3_27
- Mapping microglia and astrocyte activation in vivo using diffusion MRI Raquel Garcia-Hernandez, Antonio Cerdán Cerdá, Alejandro Trouve Carpena , Mark Drakesmith2, Kristin Koller, Derek K Jones , Santiago Canals , Silvia De Santis Sci Adv. 2022 8(21):eabq2923 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abq2923
- Chronic alcohol consumption alters extracellular space geometry and transmitter diffusion in the brain De Santis S, Cosa-Linan A, Garcia-Hernandez R, Dmytrenko L, Vargova L, Vorisek I, Stopponi S, Bach P, Kirsch P, Kiefer F, Ciccocioppo R, Sykova E, Moratal D, Sommer WH, Canals S Sci Adv 2020 6(26):eaba0154 https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.aba0154
- Diffusion-weighted MRI in neurodegenerative and psychiatric animal models: experimental strategies and main outcomes Eed A, Cerdán Cerdá A, Lerma J, De Santis S J Neurosci Methods 2020 343:108814 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jneumeth.2020.108814
- Gray matter network reorganization in multiple sclerosis from 7-Tesla and 3-Tesla MRI data Gonzalez-Escamilla G, Ciolac D, De Santis S, Radetz A, Fleischer V, Droby A, Roebroeck A, Meuth SG, Muthuraman M, Groppa S Ann Clin Transl Neurol 2020 7(4):543 https://doi.org/10.1002/acn3.51029
- Multishell diffusion imaging reveals sex-specific trajectories of early white matter degeneration in normal aging Toschi N, Gisbert RA, Passamonti L, Canals S, De Santis S Neurobiol Aging 2020 86:191 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2019.11.014
- A Network Activity Reconfiguration Underlies the Transition from Goal to Action Marcos E, Tsujimoto S, Mattia M, Genovesio A Cell Reports 2019 27(10):2909 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.celrep.2019.05.021
- Characterizing Microstructural Tissue Properties in Multiple Sclerosis with Diffusion MRI at 7 T and 3 T: The Impact of the Experimental Design De Santis S, Bastiani M, Droby A, Kolber P, Zipp F, Pracht E, Stoecker T, Groppa S, Roebroeck A Neuroscience 2019 403:17 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.03.048
- Detecting Alcohol-Induced Brain Damage Noninvasively Using Diffusion Tensor Imaging De Santis S, Sommer WHx Canals S ACS Chem Neurosci 2019 10(10):4187 https://doi.org/10.1021/acschemneuro.9b00481
- Evidence for Progressive Microstructural Damage in Early Multiple Sclerosis by Multi-Shell Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging Toschi N, De Santis S, Granberg T, Ouellette R, Treaba CA, Herranz E, Mainero C Neuroscience 2019 403:27 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.01.022
- Evidence of early microstructural white matter abnormalities in multiple sclerosis from multi-shell diffusion MRI De Santis S, Granberg T, Ouellette R, Treaba CA, Herranz E, Fan Q, Mainero C, Toschi N Neuroimage Clin 2019 22:101699 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nicl.2019.101699
- Microstructural White Matter Alterations in Men With Alcohol Use Disorder and Rats With Excessive Alcohol Consumption During Early Abstinence De Santis S, Bach P, Pérez-Cervera L, Cosa-Linan A, Weil G, Vollstädt-Klein S, Hermann D, Kiefer F, Kirsch P, Ciccocioppo R, Sommer WH, Canals S JAMA Psychiatry 2019 76(7):749 https://doi.org/10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.0318
- Non-invasive MRI windows to neuroinflammation De Santis S, Canals S Neuroscience 2019 403:1 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2019.01.051
- Radiomicrobiomics: Advancing Along the Gut-brain Axis Through Big Data Analysis De Santis S, Moratal D, Canals S Magn Reson Imaging 2019 403:145 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroscience.2017.11.055
- Slow-wave activity in the S1HL cortex is contributed by different layer-specific field potential sources during development Ortuño T, López-Madrona VJ, Makarova J, Tapia-Gonzalez S, Muñoz A, DeFelipe J, Herreras O J Neuroscience 2019 39(45):8900 https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1212-19.2019
- Towards developing meaningful MRI biomarkers of neuroinflammation Garcia-Hernandez R Journal of Neurosc Research 2019 97(6):643 https://doi.org/10.1002/jnr.24410
- Including diffusion time dependence in the extra-axonal space improves in vivo estimates of axonal diameter and density in human white matter Silvia De Santis , Derek K Jones , Alard Roebroeck Neuroimage 2016 130:91 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2016.01.047
