Santarnecchi Lab
About the lab
Dr. Santarnecchi’s lab focuses on combining multimodal neuroimaging (e.g., MRI, fMRI, DTI, PET) and electrophysiology (e.g., EEG, EMG, MEG) methods for the identification of novel biomarkers and the development of therapeutic approaches for patients with neurological and psychiatric conditions.
Research
Dr. Santarnecchi’s research is centered around the development of personalized, network-based Noninvasive Brain Stimulation (NiBS) approaches to modulate brain plasticity, guide connectome rewiring and enhance cognitive function, with the ultimate goal of promoting Brain Health and healthy Aging. His team is currently working on machine learning and AI-based solutions for perturbation-based brain connectivity analysis (TMS-EEG, fMRI), NIBS approaches to modulate sleep and memory, high-frequency transcranial electrical stimulation interventions for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and Frontotemporal dementia, and novel fMRI markers of disease progression in patients with brain tumors.
See his Precision Neuroscience & Neuromodulation Program page for more information.
Members
Selected Publications
- Turrini S, Wong B, Eldaief M, Press D, Sinclair DA, Koch G, Avenanti A, Santarnecchi E. The multifactorial nature of healthy brain ageing: brain changes, functional decline and protective factors. Ageing Res Rev 2023 ():101939
- Assogna M, Premi E, Gazzina S, Benussi A, Ashton NJ, Zetterberg H, Blennow K, Gasparotti R, Padovani A, Tadayon E, Romanella S, Sprugnoli G, Pascual-Leone A, Di Lorenzo F, Koch G, Borroni B, Santarnecchi E. Association of Choroid Plexus Volume With Serum Biomarkers, Clinical Features, and Disease Severity in Patients With Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration Spectrum. Neurology 2023 101 (12):e1218-e1230
- Tăuƫan AM, Casula EP, Pellicciari MC, Borghi I, Maiella M, Bonni S, Minei M, Assogna M, Palmisano A, Smeralda C, Romanella SM, Ionescu B, Koch G, Santarnecchi E. TMS-EEG perturbation biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease patients classification. Sci Rep 2023 13 (1):7667
- Romanella SM, Mencarelli L, Seyedmadani K, Jillings S, Tomilovskaya E, Rukavishnikov I, Sprugnoli G, Rossi S, Wuyts FL, Santarnecchi E. Optimizing transcranial magnetic stimulation for spaceflight applications. NPJ Microgravity 2023 9 (1):26
- Romanella SM, Mencarelli L, Burke MJ, Rossi S, Kaptchuk TJ, Santarnecchi E. Targeting neural correlates of placebo effects. Cogn Affect Behav Neurosci 2023 23 (2):217-236
- Assogna M, Sprugnoli G, Press D, Dickerson B, Macone J, Bonnì S, Borghi I, Connor A, Hoffman M, Grover N, Wong B, Shen C, Martorana A, O’Reilly M, Ruffini G, El Fakhri G, Koch G, Santarnecchi E. Gamma-induction in frontotemporal dementia (GIFTeD) randomized placebo-controlled trial: Rationale, noninvasive brain stimulation protocol, and study design. Alzheimers Dement (N Y) 2021 7 (1):e12219
- Sprugnoli G, Rigolo L, Faria M, Juvekar P, Tie Y, Rossi S, Sverzellati N, Golby AJ, Santarnecchi E. Tumor BOLD connectivity profile correlates with glioma patients’ survival. Neurooncol Adv 2022 4 (1):vdac153
- Menardi A, Ozdemir RA, Momi D, Tadayon E, Boucher P, Vallesi A, Pascual-Leone A, Shafi MM, Santarnecchi E. Effect of group-based vs individualized stimulation site selection on reliability of network-targeted TMS. Neuroimage 2022 264 :119714
- Menardi A, Momi D, Vallesi A, Barabási AL, Towlson EK, Santarnecchi E. Maximizing brain networks engagement via individualized connectome-wide target search. Brain Stimul 2022 15 (6):1418-1431
- Tatti E, Phillips AL, Paciorek R, Romanella SM, Dettore D, Di Lorenzo G, Ruffini G, Rossi S, Santarnecchi E. Boosting psychological change: Combining non-invasive brain stimulation with psychotherapy. Neurosci Biobehav Rev 2022 142 ():104867
- Mencarelli L, Monti L, Romanella S, Neri F, Koch G, Salvador R, Ruffini G, Sprugnoli G, Rossi S, Santarnecchi E. Local and Distributed fMRI Changes Induced by 40 Hz Gamma tACS of the Bilateral Dorsolateral Prefrontal Cortex: A Pilot Study. Neural Plast 2022 2022 ():6197505
- Sprugnoli G, Monti L, Lippa L, Neri F, Mencarelli L, Ruffini G, Salvador R, Oliveri G, Batani B, Momi D, Cerase A, Pascual-Leone A, Rossi A, Rossi S, Santarnecchi E. Reduction of intratumoral brain perfusion by noninvasive transcranial electrical stimulation. Science Advances August 2019; DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aau9309
- Ozdemir RA, Tadayon E, Boucher P, Momi D, Karakhanyan K. K., Fox MD, Halko, MA, Pascual-Leone A., Shafi MM, Santarnecchi E. Individualized Perturbation of the Human Connectome Reveals Reproducible Biomarkers of Network Dynamics Relevant to Cognition. PNAS 2020, Mar 19. pii: 201911240. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1911240117
- Sprugnoli G, Cagle Y, Santarnecchi E. Impact of Microgravity and Cosmic Radiations during Space Exploration as a window into Neurodegeneration on Earth. JAMA Neurology 2019; Nov 25. DOI: 10.1001/jamaneurol.2019.4003
- DhaynautM, SprugnoliG, Cappon D, MaconeJ, SanchezJS, NormandinA, Nicolas Guehl, Koch G, PaciorekR, ConnorA, Press D, JohnsonK, Pascual-LeoneA, Georges El-Fakhri G, Santarnecchi E. Impact of 40Hz tACS on cerebral Tau burden in patients with Alzheimer’s disease: A Case Series. J Alzheimers Dis. 2021 DOI: 10.3233/JAD-215072
- Santarnecchi E, Polizzotto NR, Godone M, Giovannelli F, Feurra M, Matzen L, Rossi A, Rossi S. Frequency-dependent enhancement of fluid intelligence induced by transcranial oscillatory potentials. Current Biology 2013 Aug 5;23(15):1449-53.
- Burke MJ*, Romanella SM*, Mencarelli L, Greben R, Fox MD, Kaptchuk TJ, Pascual-Leone A, Santarnecchi E. Placebo effects and neuromodulation for depression: A meta-analysis and evaluation of shared mechanisms. Molecular Psychiatry 2021 (accepted). DOI: 10.1038/s41380-021-01397
- Menardi A., Rossi S., Koch G., Hampel H., Vergallo A., Nitsche MA, Stern Y, Borroni B, Cappa SF, Cotelli M, Ruffini G, El-Fakhri G, Rossini PM, Dickerson B, Antal A., Babiloni C, Lefaucheur JP, Dubois B, Deco G, Ziemann U, Pascual-Leone A, Santarnecchi E. Toward noninvasive brain stimulation 2.0 in Alzheimer’s disease. Ageing Research Reviews 75, 3 2022, 101555. DOI: 10.1016/j.arr.2021.101555
- Sprugnoli G, Rossi S, Rotenberg A, Pascual-Leone A, El-Fakhri G, Golby AJ, Santarnecchi E. Personalized, Image-Guided, Noninvasive Brain Stimulation in Gliomas: Rationale, Challenges and Opportunities. Lancet EBiomedicine 2021 Volume 70, 103514, August 01. DOI: 1016/j.ebiom.2021.103514
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