2020-11: Modelling the seeding and spread of pathology via brain networks in progressive neurodegenerative disorders
Dear Colleagues and HDR Students,
You are invited to attend the following D2I Seminar, as part of the School of IT Seminar Series:
Date: Friday 20 November
Time: 11.00am-12.00pm
Join: https://deakin.zoom.us/j/99464011675?pwd=ejI3L05OUHFMUld0bjZuUVFjakZvZz09&from=addon
Meeting ID: 994 6401 1675
Password: 151880
Speaker: Dr Govinda Poudel (Mary Mackillop Institute for Health Research, Melbourne)
Abstract:
The human brain is a complex network comprised of billions of neurons connected by trillions of axonal connections. Advanced in-vivo brain imaging techniques can be used to map the human brain network with high spatial and temporal resolution. Emerging computational techniques allow modelling the dynamics of trans‐network propagation of pathological events in the brain, such as in progressive neurodegeneration and traumatic brain injury. We have implemented network diffusion models, which model trans-network spread as linear diffusion of pathological events via the brain networks. The network diffusion model was used to test whether spread of pathology in the brain, via the human brain network, is a viable mechanism to explain the distribution of pathology associated with a progressive neurodegenerative condition. We have also investigated whether this model can explain brain degeneration in Traumatic Brain Injury. In this talk, I will go through the application of network diffusion models in brain networks and its use in predicting the spatial spread of pathology.
Bio:
Dr Govinda Poudel is a Senior Research Fellow at the Mary Mackillop Institute for Health Research, Melbourne, Australia. He holds BE (First Class Honours) from UTS, Sydney and PhD from the University of Otago, NZ. His research develops/uses advanced analytics and modelling for understanding the human brain network in health and disease. He was a recipient of the Hereditary Disease Foundation, USA, Fellowship, and Endeavour Australia Research Fellowship. He has worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the New Zealand Brain Research Institute, Monash University, and the University of Sydney.
References:
Poudel GR, Dominguez DJF, Verhelst H, et al. Network diffusion modeling predicts neurodegeneration in traumatic brain injury. Ann Clin Transl Neur. 2020; 7 (3): 270-279.
Poudel GR, Harding IH, Egan GF, Georgiou-Karistianis N. Network spread determines severity of degeneration and disconnection in Huntington’s disease. Human Brain Mapping. 2019; 40 (14): 4192-4201.