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Progetto FITS: mappare l’attività elettrica cerebrale
per generare modelli matematici dei circuiti nervosi
FITS project: mapping electrical brain activity to generate mathematical models of nerve circuits
The project ‘(dis)Functional Information Transfer in ex vivo human brain Samples: a multiscale investigation
through in vitro and in silico approaches’ - FITS, coordinated by Prof. Jonathan Mapelli of the Department of
Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, aims to map the electrical activity of single neurons and nerve
microcircuits obtained from human brain tissue, enabling the generation of mathematical models of nerve
circuits. This will make it possible to implement the first step of an innovative personalised medicine based
on the use of in vitro and in-silico drug tests directly on the cells of patients suffering from drug-resistant
neuropathologies. The idea behind the project is to combine experimental and modelling characterisation
of human neuronal activity to identify fingerprints of the electrical activity of circuits. These fingerprints will
be used to identify alterations associated with specific diseases such as epilepsy or cortical dysplasias. The
project won a cascade competition that enabled it to obtain a grant of 150,000 euros, entirely financed by
Unimore.
l progetto “(dis)Functional Informa- mediche, Metaboliche e Neuroscienze, ha come
tion Transfer in ex vivo human brain obiettivo quello di mappare l’attività elettrica di
Samples: a multiscale investigation singoli neuroni e microcircuiti nervosi ottenuti da
through in vitro and in silico appro- tessuto cerebrale umano consentendo di genera-
Iaches” (Trasferimento di informazioni re modelli matematici dei circuiti nervosi.
(dis)funzionali in campioni di cervello umano ex In questo modo sarà possibile implementa-
vivo: un’indagine multiscala attraverso approcci in re il primo passo di un’innovativa medicina
vitro e in silico) – FITS, coordinato dal Prof. Jo- personalizzata basata sull’utilizzo di test
nathan Mapelli del Dipartimento di Scienze Bio-
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