Functional Connectivity of the Human Brain

Professor Rocca is Head of the “Neuroimaging of CNS White Matter Unit”, Division of Neuroscience, Scientific Institute Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy and Associate Professor of Neurology at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University. Her activity is mainly focused on the application of structural and functional MR based techniques to improve the understanding of CNS function and dysfunction in healthy individuals and diseased people, particularly patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other white matter disorders. She is currently conducting and coordinating several national and international projects in adult and pediatric populations. She is also extensively applying advanced methods of analysis in an attempt to improve the understanding of the role of brain functional and structural plasticity in the different phases of MS, and the influence of pharmacological and rehabilitative interventions on brain reorganization. Prof. Rocca is member of various national and international Scientific Societies and, in some of them, she covered or is covering institutional roles. She has been chair of the MAGNIMS network since 2018, and is author or co-author of 53 book chapters and more than 500 papers published on peer-reviewed journals. Massimo Filippi, MD, is Full Professor of Neurology at Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Director of the Residency School in Neurology, President of the Bacherlor’s Degree in Physiotherapy, Chair of the Neurology and Neurorehabilitation Units, Director of the MS Center, Director of the Neurophysiology Service, and Director of the Neuroimaging Research Unit at IRCCS Scientific Institute San Raffaele, Milan. His research activity has always focused on the definition of the mechanisms underlying various neurological conditions, including multiple sclerosis, neurodegenerative disorders, and migraine. As Director of the of the Neuroimaging Research Unit, he coordinated the MRI acquisition and analysis of several large-scale international MRI-monitored trials of multiple sclerosis. He is member of various national and international Scientific Societies and Boards and for some of them, he holds or has held institutional roles. He is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neurology, Associate Editor of Human Brain Mapping, Radiology, and Neurological Sciences.

• 1. Functional connectivity: definition and signal origins2. Assessing functional connectivity: the role of functional MRI and electrophysiological techniques3. Analysis methods for functional connectivity: from seed-regions to data-driven approaches4. Causal connections in the brain: from functional to causal connectivity5. Exploring functional connectivity using graph theoretical analysis6. Time-varying analysis of functional connectivity7. Trajectories of brain functional connectivity in brain maturation8. Trajectories of brain functional connectivity in brain aging9. Application of functional connectivity to cognitive neurosciences10. Functional connectivity in neuroinflammatory conditions11. Functional connectivity in neurodegenerative conditions12. Functional connectivity in neuropsychiatric diseases13. Current limitations in functional connectivity assessment: suggestions for analysis improvements14. Future perspectives of functional connectivity: multimodal analysis, artificial intelligence, and more