Mercoledi’ 9 Dicembre h 15:00-16:30
via telematica
Link: https://meet.google.com/uaw-hqck-utv
Host: Prof Giuliana Mazzoni, Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology
Prof Annalena Venneri
University of Sheffield, UK
Functional brain networks: role in health and disease
Recent advances in cognitive neuroscience have shown that efficient brain function is the outcome of a set of functional networks. The optimal balance in function between these networks is necessary to support normal cognition. Understanding the functioning of these networks is important not only to understand how the brain functions in condition of health, but it is also extremely useful to understand how disruption to the homeostasis of one or more of these functional networks might be relevant in functional and neurodegenerative disorders. In this lecture evidence will be reviewed of how functional networks are disrupted by several psychiatric and neurological conditions. Evidence will be also provided of how understanding this disruption might offer treatment opportunities relevant for the various disorders of the brain.
Biography and Research: Annalena Venneri is Professor of Translational Clinical Neuropsychology at the University of Sheffield and Honorary Consultant at Sheffield Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. She heads the Translational Neuropsychology Team and is dementia lead for the University of Sheffield and the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre in Neuroscience. In her research she uses a combined cognitive and neuroimaging approach to improve the differential diagnosis of dementia syndromes, to characterise the preclinical indicators of Alzheimer’s disease, to understand the neural underpinning of neuropsychiatric symptoms in neurodegenerative dementia and to define the effects of cognitive and brain reserve on cognitive efficiency in neurodegeneration. She has published in high impact neuropsychology, neurology and neuroscience journals.