EBRAINS and EAN gather key insights from neurologists on connectomics

The European Academy of Neurology (EAN) is a key partner in the EBRAINS 2.0 project led by EBRAINS. Designed to meet the evolving needs of neuroscience and brain research, the EBRAINS infrastructure enables users to better leverage the immense potential of shared human neuroimaging data, thereby advancing diagnostics for neurological disorders. The EAN is the primary scientific and educational European organisation in the field of clinical neurosciences, representing over 47000 neurologists and 48 national neurological societies.

One of the first tasks for the EAN within EBRAINS was to approach its expert members and inquire about their competence, interest, and knowledge of the new connectomics methods for studying clinical conditions.

Following this, last year a short survey was conducted among all EAN Panel members. A total of 344 individuals participated in the study (see table 1).

Most respondents rated new connectomics methods as important or highly important, yet less than a third reported having previous experience with these methods. Participants also reported interest in standardising acquisition protocols (83.3%) and receiving training on data sharing (79.9%). When asked about the type of data used to analyse brain connectivity, clinical data was a leading choice, followed by structural/difussion MRI and neuropsychological data (see figure below).

Survey responses generally highlight connectomics as a highly relevant field, emphasising the use of imaging techniques and computational methods to study structural and functional connectivity. Likewise, EAN panel members anticipate significant advancements, particularly with the application of AI methods to interpret increasing levels of data on brain connectivity, in both healthy and non-healthy individuals.

One of the goals of the collaboration between EBRAINS and EAN is to develop a standard operating procedure (SOP) for health data-sharing and harmonisation procedures. The survey on connectomics was a first step in this direction. For that, they drew on the expertise of EAN scientific panels of pathologies where connectivity plays a big role, for instance the ones dedicated to epilepsy, stroke, movement disorders / Parkinson’s disease, and multiple sclerosis.

The next challenges to be approached imply technical, regulatory and translation aspects as well as the need for collaboration, training, and regulatory compliances.

This post appeared first on eanNews.

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