Nikolaus Weiskopf How Can Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Help Us to Diagnose and Treat Neurodegenerative Disease?
Nikolaus Weiskopf is Director of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences. Holding Honarary Professorships at the University of Leipzig and University College London, Weiskopf is also an Adjunct Professor in the Center for Medical Physics and Biomedical Engineering at the Medical University of Vienna. Weiskopf’s research centers on neuroscience, specifically on using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the human brain and for in vivo histology. The author of almost 200 peer-reviewed publications, Weiskopf is an associate editor for Frontiers in Brain Imaging Methods.
Area of Research
Neuroscience
since 2022
Fellow of the Max Planck School of Cognition
Max Planck Society (more details)
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
© Maximilian Dörrbecker
Max Planck Society
"The Max Planck Society is Germany's most successful research organization. Since its establishment in 1948, no fewer than 18 Nobel laureates have emerged from the ranks of its scientists, putting it on a par with the best and most prestigious research institutions worldwide. The more than 15,000 publications each year in internationally renowned scientific journals are proof of the outstanding research work conducted at Max Planck Institutes – and many of those articles are among the most-cited publications in the relevant field." (Source)
Institute
Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences
The aim of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig is to investigate human cognitive abilities and brain processes. The main focus of the research is on the neuronal basis of higher functions of the brain such as speech, music, and action. To this end, the scientists’ primary interest focuses on how these are perceived, processed, planned, and generated, as well as how perception and generation influence each other. They also investigate the plastic changes to the brain after strokes, and how these affect different cognitive abilities. The Department of Neurophysics, which was established in early 2007, is specifically concerned with the use and development of imaging methods for the neurosciences. (Source)
Map
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is a non invasive technology which can provide very detailed information on the human brain. In this video, NIKOLAUS WEISKOPF explores the insights that MRI can provide on the substantia nigra, a small midbrain structure that plays a crucial role in neurodegenerative conditions like Parkinson’s disease. Employing traditional postmortem histology alongside postmortem and in vivo MRI, Weiskopf’s work shows that MRI can reveal details about iron concentration in specific cells. This new biomarker could potentially be used to enable early detection and treatment of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s. With a Europe wide network having been established to analyze these findings with at risk patients, future research will focus on other brain areas outside the substantia nigra.
LT Video Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB101074
Swallow tail sign: Revisited.
- M. Brammerloh, E. Kirilina, A. Alkmade, P.-L. Bazin, C. Jantzen, C. Jäger, A. Herrler, P. Gowland, M Morawski, B. Forstmann and N. Weiskopf
- Radiology
- Published in 2022
Measuring the iron content of dopaminergic neurons in substantia nigra with MRI relaxometry.
- M. Brammerloh, M. Morawski, I. Friedrich, T. Reinert, C. Lange, P. Pelicon, P. Vavpetič, S. Jankuhn, C. Jäger, A. Alkemade and N. Weiskopf
- NeuroImage
- Published in 2021
