originally published at King´s College London

MELD Graph is an AI tool that could drastically change the care for 30,000 patients in the UK and 4 million worldwide with one cause of epilepsy, researchers say.

The study, published today in JAMA Neurology by a team at King’s College London and University College London (UCL), shows how the tool significantly improves the detection of focal cortical dysplasia’s (FCDs) which is a leading cause of epilepsy.

Researchers say the tool will speed up diagnosis times, get patients the surgical treatment they need quicker, and reduce costs to the NHS by up to £55,000 per patient.

In the UK, 1 in 100 people are affected by epilepsy and seizures often present in childhood. 1 in 5 people with epilepsy have seizures caused by a structural abnormality (“lesion”) in the brain. FCDs are a common structural cause of epilepsy and in people with this type of epilepsy, seizures are usually not able to be controlled with medications. Surgery to remove the lesion can be an effective and safe way to stop the seizures. However, the challenge is that FCDs can be subtle and difficult to see with the human eye and up to half of these lesions are missed by radiologists. Delays to diagnosis and surgery mean more seizures, more visits to A&E, and more disruption to school, work and home life.

In the study, the researchers pooled MRI data from 1185 participants – including 703 people with FCD and 482 controls – from 23 epilepsy centres around the world in the Multicentre Epilepsy Lesion Detection project (MELD). Half of the dataset is from children. They then trained the artificial intelligence tool, MELD Graph, on the scans to detect these subtle brain abnormalities that might otherwise go undetected.

Project lead-author, Dr Konrad Wagstyl, from King’s College London, said: “Radiologists are currently inundated with images they have to review. Using an AI-powered tool like MELD Graph can support them with their decisions, making the NHS more efficient, speeding time to treatment for patients and relieving them of unnecessary and costly tests and procedures.”

Co-author Dr Luca Palma, from Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital, Italy, said: “MELD Graph identified a subtle lesion missed by many radiologists in a 12-year-old boy who had daily seizures and had tried nine anti-seizure medications with no improvement to his condition. This tool could identify patients with surgically operable epilepsy and help with surgical planning – reducing risks, saving money, improving outcomes.”

While the tool is not yet clinically available, the research team have released the AI-tool as an open-source software. They are running workshops to train clinicians and researchers around the world, including Great Ormond Street Hospital and the Cleveland Clinic, in how to use it.

First author, Dr Mathilde Ripart from UCL, said “One of the highlights for me is hearing from doctors around the world, including the UK, Chile, India and France have been able to use our tools to help their own patients.”

Co-author Professor Helen Cross, Prince of Wales’s Chair of Childhood Epilepsy, President of the International League Against Epilepsy, Consultant Epileptologist at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and Director of the UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, OBE said: “Many of the children I see have experienced years of seizures and investigations before we find a lesion. The epilepsy community is searching for ways to speed up diagnosis and treatment. Initiatives such as MELD have the potential to rapidly identify abnormalities that can be removed and potentially cure the epilepsy.”

Co-lead Dr Sophie Adler from UCL said: “This type of research is only possible with international collaboration. We were privileged to work with 75 researchers and clinicians towards this common goal of “no missed epilepsy lesions worldwide”.”

Reference 

• Ripart M et al., 2025. Detection of epileptogenic focal cortical dysplasia using graph neural networks: a MELD study. JAMA Neurology, Feb 24. doi:10.1001/jamaneurol.2024.5406

Originally published by Agência FAPESP

By establishing a new metric, researchers envision advancements in diagnosing and treating a disease that is estimated to affect around 4 million people worldwide.

Maria Fernanda Ziegler | Agência FAPESP – In a study that analyzed brain images from more than 2,500 individuals with Parkinson’s disease across 20 countries, scientists identified neurodegeneration patterns and created metrics for each of the disease’s five clinical stages.

The work, published in NPJ Parkinson’s Disease, represents a breakthrough in understanding Parkinson’s. The analyses and the vast data obtained could lead to significant developments, not only in diagnostic advancements but also in enabling new treatments to be tested and monitored like never before.

Read the article:
Laansma, M.A., Zhao, Y., van Heese, E.M., et al. A worldwide study of subcortical shape as a marker for clinical staging in Parkinson’s disease. npj Parkinson’s Dis. 10, 223 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41531-024-00825-9

Approximately 4 million people worldwide are estimated to have Parkinson’s disease, a progressive neurological condition affecting brain structures linked to movement. The disease progresses variably among patients, potentially taking up to 20 years to transition through all stages.

In its early stages, initial signs include tremors, muscle stiffness, and slowed movements on one side of the body. Later, symptoms become bilateral. In the final stage, patients may rely on wheelchairs as leg stiffness prevents walking.

“For many years, clinical diagnosis, supported by complementary exams, has been well established. However, for the first time, it was possible to correlate the disease’s progression scale—the five stages of clinical symptoms—with quantitative changes in brain images,” explains Fernando Cendes, lead researcher at the Brazilian Institute of Neuroscience and Neurotechnology (BRAINN), a FAPESP Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Center (CEPID) based at the State University of Campinas (Unicamp).

BRAINN is part of the ENIGMA Consortium, an international network of scientists in imaging genomics, neurology, and psychiatry. The group leverages high-resolution MRI, genetic data, and other information to study conditions like epilepsy, Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, autism, and schizophrenia.

Cendes explains that Parkinson’s disease involves changes in the brain’s basal ganglia—regions associated with automatic movements. However, the study revealed progressive alterations in other cortical areas, previously thought to be less involved in the disease.

“We observed that as each disease stage advanced, there was increased atrophy or hypertrophy not only in movement-related structures but also in other cortical areas. These combinations of atrophy and hypertrophy correlate with the disease’s stage,” he says.

Additionally, researchers found shape differences in various brain structures. Some thalamic regions, responsible for relaying sensory information to the cortex, thickened, while others, such as the amygdala, responsible for social behavior and emotion regulation, atrophied.

“These changes are not visible to the naked eye,” Cendes explains. “They are submillimetric measurements. However, with programs and AI, it is possible to identify patterns and monitor these changes in the future.”

 

Driving New Treatments

By establishing a metric to quantify brain changes related to Parkinson’s stages, the study could have several implications, beginning with improving diagnosis.

“The morphometric data we obtained are sensitive and reproducible, supporting clinical diagnosis. With the vast amount of data from this study, AI-assisted programs could aid clinicians,” Cendes says.

Further implications lie in treatments. Currently, Parkinson’s is incurable, and treatments only address dopamine deficiency—the neurotransmitter lost in patients, which triggers brain changes and symptoms.

Over time, the disease affects other brain areas, causing non-motor symptoms like depression, anxiety, sleep disorders, cognitive decline, and, eventually, dementia.

“These findings allow new ways to monitor treatments developed in the future. The ultimate goal is to find a treatment that halts neurodegeneration or at least slows its progression. The metrics we identified are essential to evaluating future therapies, ensuring they work comprehensively—not just on movement-related areas but also on others affected by the disease,” he emphasizes.

Another significant impact of the study is in data science. The large dataset includes diverse countries, study groups, disease stages, and data types.

“The innovation lies not only in identifying metrics related to Parkinson’s stages but also in the data analysis methods. These advances pave the way for future AI-driven studies on other diseases,” Cendes concludes.

The article A worldwide study of subcortical shape as a marker for clinical staging in Parkinson’s disease can be read at: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41531-024-00825-9.

Also available on UOL.com.br and Veja.com.br.

The tenth edition of the BRAINN Congress was celebrated in 2024, held from April 3rd to 5th, 2024, in the auditoriums of the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP). The event was organized by the Brazilian Research Institute on Neuroscience and Neurotechnology (BRAINN), a Research, Innovation, and Dissemination Center (RICD) at FAPESP.

This year, more than 180 researchers, students, and attendees participated in the event, which featured 123 submitted works. These works will be published in the Journal of Epilepsy and Clinical Neurophysiology.

International scientists lectured throughout the 3-day event. Dr. Mariana Bento, an assistant professor at the Schulich School of Engineering, University of Calgary, discussed the use of machine learning to improve brain imaging. Dr. Matthias Van Osch, a professor of experimental cerebrovascular imaging at Leiden University in the Netherlands, presented non-invasive strategies for obtaining brain images. From Brazil, Dr. Daniel Papoti, an adjunct professor of Biomedical Engineering at the Federal University of ABC, lectured on radiofrequency coil technologies for brain imaging.

Also participating in the event were BRAINN researchers Dr. Fernando Cendes, Dr. Gabriela Castellano, Dr. Iscia Lopes-Cendes, and Dr. Lília Freire Li, with lectures on various topics in neuroscience. The presentations explored topics ranging from the panorama of genetic research in epilepsy over the past 30 years (Iscia) to brain changes post-rehabilitation training (Gabriela) and the challenges and controversies in classroom learning (Lília).

Awards

Each edition, the Congress awards students and researchers with the Best Paper Awards, in the categories “Oral Presentations” and “Poster Presentations”. Check out the list of winners of the 10th edition below:

Oral Session Winners

Undergraduate:

• Mariana L. Han (Faculdade de Medicina da USP) – Insights into Post-COVID Anosmia: unraveling neural alterations through 7T MRI and DTI analysis of olfactory pathways
• Vitor A. Oya (UNICAMP) – Seed-based functional connectivity changes in elderly subjects playing serious games

Master’s:

• Rodrigo M. C. Carvalho (Federal University of ABC) – A Novel Method to Investigate Neurodevelopment Using Ising Temperature and Graph Neural Networks

Doctorate:

• Rafael Batista João (UNICAMP) – Comparisons between traditional and brief, and ultra-brief anxiety and depression inventories in people with epilepsy

Post-Doctorate:

• Gabriel Chaves de Melo (UNICAMP) – Timing Investigation of EEG Functional Connectivity Changes During a Motor Imagery Task

Poster Session Winners

Undergraduate:

• Lucas F. Teodosio (Unicamp) – Analysis of the Neural Correlates of Problem Solving in Physics Measured with Functional Near-Infrared
• Thierry K. Alves Silva Souza (Unicamp) – Hypothalamic Changes and Post-COVID Symptoms

Master’s:

• Caetano Ternes Coimbra (UNICAMP) – Exploring the relationship between physiological and inertial characteristics in induced tremor events

Doctorate:

• Ricardo Brioschi (Unicamp) – Persistent seizures modify supra and infratentorial Gray Matter in Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsy

Post-Doctorate:

• Kauê T. N. Duarte (University of Calgary) – Exploratory Prenatal Alcohol Exposure classification in infants using brain MR: 3D Convolutional Neural Networks assisted by Data Augmentation

August 31st, 2021  | by WebContent

RICD BRAINN is among 17 groups chosen in 14 countries by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, one of the world’s largest philanthropic and science aid institutions, to receive support for conducting research that aims to understand, prevent and treat childhood illnesses. In total, the studies will receive more than US$30 million in funding.

BRAINN researchers lead the project.

The selected BRAINN project will be coordinated by researchers Diogo Troggian Veiga, Fernando Cendes (BRAINN´s main researcher) and Iscia Lopes-Cendes, all from University of Campinas (Unicamp) in Brazil, and Claudia Kleinman, from McGill University in Canada. Among the 17 projects awarded by Chan Zuckerberg, this is the only one that will feature research being carried out in Latin America.

The complete list of projects approved by the initiative can be seen at the link below.

“One thing we know for sure is that diseases – including the rarest ones – don’t randomly arise throughout life. Most of them start in childhood or old age, which reveals the importance of understanding not only the normal state of adult health, but also how health develops before and after birth, and how it is maintained or degenerated as we get older.

That’s why we’ve launched the research funding initiative that will help researchers and pediatricians map healthy cells in pediatric tissues and thus aid in the understanding, prevention and treatment of disease.”

– CHAN ZUCKERBERG INITIATIVE

PROJECT SUMMARY

The study that the BRAINN researchers will carry out aims to create a ‘cellular atlas’ of child’s brains through genetic analysis of cells from healthy tissues from five different regions of the organ, obtained from seven donors.

An important part of the study is that the chromatin and transcriptome conformation information will be obtained at single-cell resolution, using revolutionary and modern technologies for such investigation (learn more about single-cell technologies below).

All study results will be freely accessible by the research community through the Human Cell Atlas, providing references that will help scientists around the world to better understand children´s brains, how they develop, and how diseases that affect kids arise and progress. The Human Cell Atlas is a scientific consortium with more than 2,000 members in 75 countries, aiming to share information at the cellular level – the fundamental unit of biology and life – about the human body and create an ‘atlas’ of all kinds of cells – among the 37 trillion total cells our bodies have.

The 17 projects funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative form the new ‘Pediatric Networks’ of the Human Cell Atlas, and the results of all of them will be available on the platform.

WHAT ARE SINGLE-CELL STUDIES?

In 2013, the journal “Nature Methods,” part of the respected Nature group of scientific publications, named single-cell sequencing technologies the “technology of the year” for their potential to uncover new data and elucidate relevant questions in biology.

In simple terms, these technologies are capable of obtaining detailed genetic information from a single cell – in comparison, modern genome and transcriptome analysis techniques are based on an “average” of data obtained from a large number of cells.

“Single-cell technologies have an incredible potential to accelerate the achievement of scientific knowledge by allowing researchers to understand how cells and organs develop and relate to pediatric diseases,” said the head of the Science Program for Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Single Cell Biology, Jonah Cool.

This hyperspecific resolution allows researchers to study, in detail never before obtained, differences between cells and also the evolutionary relationships between them, creating ‘cell maps’ based on similarities and opening up a panorama of useful information in various fields of study, such as research on cancer, neurology, microbiology, reproduction and immunology.

For more information on single-cell technologies, watch the following presentation, released by the Human Cell Atlas:

THE CHAN ZUCKERBERG INITIATIVE

If the name “Zuckerberg” caught your eye when you read the name of the project’s funding organization, it does indeed refer to the owner of the largest social network in history.

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is a philanthropic organization founded in 2015 by Facebook creator Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan. Both promised to invest up to 99% of the profits they make with the social network’s actions in this initiative. Among the various areas the couple helps – from studies on neglected diseases to educational and safety issues in communities –, support for Science and child health are a highlight – Priscilla has worked for years as a teacher and pediatrician, caring for children in situations of risk. The organization’s mission, according to its website, is “to build a more inclusive, fair and healthy future for all”. More information can be found at www.chanzuckerberg.com.

March 27th 2019  |  originally published at Jornal da Unicamp

“I had up to four seizures a day. They made me tired and sleepy. It was impossible to keep up with the routine. My performance at the university was beginning to fall”, says the teacher, whose quality of life only resumed balance after surgical treatment, about a year and a half ago. “After the surgery I did not have any more seizures. I can come and go safely, with the certainty that I will not be more vulnerable in the face of a crisis. You have to face epilepsy head on, with optimism and persistence, without ever giving up treatment, although it often seems that the medication is not having an effect”, she says.

“It is important that people know that life continues and that it is possible to lead a normal life even with epilepsy”, adds university student Adriano Sacco, who after surgery also managed to overcome epileptic seizures, events that happened to him ever since the age of three.

The story of Ismênia and Adriano sums up the struggles of thousands of people who deal daily with epilepsy, a chronic neurological disease that affects about 1% of the world’s population. Despite the high prevalence, epilepsy is still little debated by society and very socially stigmatized.

The Purple Day of Epilepsy is celebrated on March 26th. Due to the importance of the date, Unicamp Pro-Rectory of Extension and Culture (Proec) brings the subject to the fore in another special edition of the program Extensão 48. With a duration of approximately 11 minutes, the video “Epilepsy in School” (which you can watch above, in Portuguese) brings together specialists from Unicamp, non-governmental organizations, representatives of civil society, social activists and patients to discuss how the knowledge produced at the university maintains an interface with society in general, through extension.

Causes, diagnosis and treatment

The causes of epilepsy are extremely diverse. The disease can be triggered by tumors, sequelae of infection and cranial traumas or by genetic factors. The diagnosis is essentially clinical and depends on good communication between the patient and the doctor. The treatment can also vary, according to the type of epilepsy. Chief among these is the use of medication for the management of seizures, but there are other types of interventions for patients with more difficult to control forms of epilepsy (20% to 30%).

Fernando Cendes, from CEPID BRAINN. Image: Jornal da Unicamp

“Surgery is an established and very effective treatment. It consists of resection of the affected brain area without further damage to the patients. Another trend in treatment has been the use of cannabinoid substances to control epileptic seizures, “explains Professor Fernando Cendes, head of the Department of Neurology at the Faculty of Medical Sciences (FCM) at Unicamp.

Research and university extension

According to Fernando Cendes, the study of epilepsy is multiprofessional. The joint work of several areas of knowledge allows an insertion within the university with possibilities of working in activities of education, training, scientific production, and clarification with the population in general. “We have, for example, a very large interaction with many STEM areas that work with signal processing to improve detection of diffuse changes and diagnostic accuracy”, says the researcher.

Nationally recognized for his work with the population regarding the awareness of epilepsy, neurologist Li Li Min, professor of FCM, reinforces the role of universities, especially public ones, in extension activities. The specialist – who in 2013 was elected Ambassador of Epilepsy in Brazil by the International League Against Epilepsy and the International Bureau for Epilepsy – says that there is an increasing need for the insertion of the academy into society, since stigma and prejudice related to illness are still very much present.

“We have to contribute with actions that reinforce the self-esteem and the self-confidence of the individuals, from initiatives that favor the autonomy of the patients. Diagnosis is not the end of life and epilepsy does not define the person”, explains Li.

The video also shows how epilepsy is treated in the school environment and how the interaction between the university and the school public occurs. It also brings correct information about the disease to try to reduce stigma and bullying among students.

For the president of the NGO “Health Care for Patients with Epilepsy,” Isilda Assumpção, university extension actions are important for the movement in favor of people suffering from epilepsy. “The university has numerous resources to offer the population, from the scientific development to training and professional qualification. This is the interface we want and need. People with epilepsy want to study, work and raise a family. After each crisis, they rise and continue to fight for the fulfillment of their dreams”, says Isilda.

October 11th 2017     by Redação WebContent

Every year, the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES, in Portuguese) presents its Thesis Awards, dedicated to the best doctoral thesis defended in the whole country. In 2017, UNICAMP was awarded two prizes, one of them being of special relevance to BRAINN.

The thesis “FUNCTIONAL AND STRUCTURAL CONNECTIVITY IN PATIENTS WITH FOCAL EPILEPSY“, by student Brunno Machado de Campos, received the CAPES Award in the category ‘Medicine I’. Brunno is supervised by prof. Fernando Cendes, BRAINN´s main Coordinator.

The award winners receive, in addition to honors, several incentives to improve his/her academic career:

• a diploma,
• a medal and
• a national postdoctoral fellowship of up to 12 months;

Dr. Fernando Cendes will receive assistance for participation in any national congress, in the amount of R$3 thousand. There are also distinctions to be given to the supervisor, co-orientator and the program in which the thesis was defended; as well as a fully paid trip for the author and his supervisor to attend the award ceremony, which takes place in December.

BRAINN congratulates Brunno and dr. Fernando Cendes for this invaluable achievement!