Neural Bioengineering

Guglielmo Foffani

Neural Bioengineering

 

Principal investigator: Guglielmo Foffani, PhD.

E-mail: gfoffani@sescam.jccm.es             

               

 

Neuronal activity represents the functional basis of the central nervous system. Modern neurophysiological techniques allow scientists to record neuronal activities of increasing complexity as: populations of single neurons, local field potentials, multichannel EEG, functional imaging, etc. However, the complexity of these signals often impedes the correct pathophysiological interpretation of the recorded neuronal activities.

 

The overall objective of Dr. Foffani’s research is to develop and apply methodologies for recording and analyzing signals in order to extract pathophysiological information from complex neuronal activities. The main research lines are the following: (1) brain reorganization after spinal cord injury; (2) neuronal oscillations in neurodegenerative disorders; (3) neural codes in the somatosensory system; (4) development and application of neuromodulation techniques to treat neurological and neuropsychiatric disorders.

 

 

Selected publications

 

- Moxon KA, Foffani G. Brain-machine interfaces beyond neuroprosthetics. Neuron. 2015; 86:55-67.

 

- Scaglione A, Moxon KA, Aguilar J, Foffani G. Trial-to-trial variability in the responses of neurons carries information about stimulus location in the rat whisker thalamus. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2011; 108:14956-14961.

 

- Aguilar J, Humanes-Valera D, Alonso-Calviño E, Yague JG, Moxon KA, Oliviero A, Foffani G. Spinal cord injury immediately changes the state of the brain. J Neurosci. 2010; 30:7528-7537.

 

- Foffani G, Morales-Botello ML, Aguilar J. Spike-timing, spike-count and temporal information for the discrimination of tactile stimuli in the rat ventrobasal complex. J Neurosci. 2009; 29: 5964-5973.

 

- Foffani G, Uzcategui YG, Gal B, Menendez de la Prida L. Reduced spike-timing reliability correlates with the emergence of fast ripples in the rat epileptic hippocampus. Neuron. 2007; 55: 930-941.

 

 

Personnel

 

Guglielmo Foffani: Lab chief; PhD. in Biomedical  Engineering (Drexell University, USA, and Politécnico di Milano, Italy.

 

Elena Alonso Calviño: Lab manager; BSc. in Environmental Sciences, University of Castille-La Mancha - shared half time with the group of Juan de los Reyes Aguilar Lepe.

 

Elena Fernandez Lopez: Lab technician; BSc. in Environmental Sciences, University of Castille-La Mancha - shared half time with the grup of Juan de los Reyes Aguilar Lepe.

 

 

Ongoing projects

 

- Prevention of levodopa-induced dyskinesias by transcranial static magnetic field stimulation (tSMS).

PI: Guglielmo Foffani; Co-investigadores: Fernando Alonso-Frech, Antonio Oliviero, María José Catalán; Financiado por Michael J. Fox Foundation, USA (2014-2017).

 

- The role of neuronal synchronization in the somatosensory cortical reorganization after long-term spinal cord injury.

PI: Guglielmo Foffani; Co-investigator: Elena Alonso Calviño; Financed by Fondo de Investigaciones Sanitarias del Instituto de Salud Carlos III (PI11/02451; 2012-2015).