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Uncovering the brain fingerprints of thalamic interactions during attention and sleep
Secondary Supervisor(s): Professor Andrew Bagshaw
University of Registration: University of Birmingham
BBSRC Research Themes: Understanding the Rules of Life (Neuroscience and Behaviour)
Project Outline
In the 17th century, Marcello Malpighi's observations of fingertip patterns laid the groundwork for the field of fingerprinting, which has since evolved to encompass a variety of biometric identifiers, including voice and retinal scans. Recently, a groundbreaking area of research has emerged: identifying individuals through patterns of brain activity, termed "brain fingerprinting." This innovative method, part of brain connectomics, leverages statistical and network science to analyze the functional connectivity between different brain regions, particularly using data from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Studies have demonstrated that unique patterns of brain connectivity can serve as individual markers, allowing for identification within populations.
The significance of these findings lies in two key aspects: they enhance our understanding of the brain's network structure and they highlight how individual connectivity profiles may correlate with cognitive and behavioral differences. As a result, researchers are now shifting from population-level analyses to more personalized assessments, aiming to predict cognitive and behavioral traits based on these brain fingerprints. This progression holds potential for identifying biomarkers linked to cognitive and behavioral disorders.
While much research has centered on the cerebral cortex, the role of subcortical structures, particularly the thalamus, remains underexplored. The thalamus is integral to sensory processing and cognitive functions, with disruptions linked to conditions such as schizophrenia and epilepsy. It interacts closely with cortical areas, influencing attention, sleep, and consciousness. Understanding thalamic function is crucial, especially since it regulates responsiveness during sleep and contributes to attention control.
The current project aims to investigate how thalamic connectivity patterns are affected by factors like sleep deprivation and vigilance, focusing on the relationships between thalamocortical connections and changes in brain activity, particularly the alpha rhythm associated with attention. Advanced neuroimaging techniques, including structural and functional MRI, along with EEG for monitoring vigilance and alpha oscillations, will be employed. In pilot data we have demonstrated that the TRN can be identified using specific MRI sequences at 3T and at 7T, and will build on and optimise this work to allow detailed investigation of the TRN, which has not been done in humans previously. Additionally, the candidate will be able to investigate fingerprinting of thalamocortical and intra-thalamic interaction in sleep.
Key References
Guillery RW, Feig SL, Lozsadi DA. Paying attention to the thalamic reticular nucleus. Trends Neurosci 21, 28-32 (1998).
Sherman SM. Thalamus plays a central role in ongoing cortical functioning. Nat. Neurosci. 19, 533–541 (2016).
Van De Ville, Farouj, Preti, Liègeois, Amico. When makes you unique: temporality of the human brain fingerprint. Science Advances, 7:eabj0751 (2021).
Enrico Amico and Joaquín Goñi. The quest for identifiability in human functional connectomes. Scientific Reports, 8(1):8254 (2018).
