A New Window Into Brain Dynamics
Beyond the Gray and White
Exploring the Secrets of the Brain
YA Lab explores brain microstructure and brain networks in relation to neuroplasticity and behavioral characteristics guided by the hypothesis that brain structure, function, and behavior are linked.
Revolutionizing Brain Research
Having developed new tools, methods, and models in MRI; the lab has achieved significant observations about how the brain reshapes itself in response to cognitive experience; revealing new aspects of brain plasticity both in the time and spatial domains.
Under Our Scope -
Research theme, neuroplasticity, MRI, network analysis, connectome, skill learning
The Structural Connectome
The brain is highly connected. Over the past two decades, great developments have been made in the exploration of the intricate patterns of interconnectivity of the human brain.
The Human Connectome Project has led the effort to map the human brain, in hopes of connecting structural patterns to both function and behaviour. Studies of the structural connectome using diffusion MRI have investigated the economy of connectivity of the human brain, explored its rich-club organization properties, and identified various central network hubs.
The lab’s recent studies have focused on intra- and interhemispheric wiring patterns in the human brain, as well as exploring patterns of wiring conservation across a variety of mammalian species. Using advanced methods such as AxCaliber, the team explores connectomics on a new level of anatomical detail.
The Structural Connectome
The brain is highly connected. Over the past two decades, great developments have been made in the exploration of the intricate patterns of interconnectivity of the human brain.
The Human Connectome Project has led the effort to map the human brain, in hopes of connecting structural patterns to both function and behaviour. Studies of the structural connectome using diffusion MRI have investigated the economy of connectivity of the human brain, explored its rich-club organization properties, and identified various central network hubs.
The lab’s recent studies have focused on intra- and interhemispheric wiring patterns in the human brain, as well as exploring patterns of wiring conservation across a variety of mammalian species. Using advanced methods such as AxCaliber, the team explores connectomics on a new level of anatomical detail.
Connectivity and Plasticity
The brain is highly dynamic. It adapts not only its function but also its structure, in response to both long-term experiences and short-term transient events. Diffusion MRI has become a probe of tissue microstructure, revealing that the brain undergoes significant microstructural remodelling within minutes of cognitive experiences.
Previous studies in the lab have suggested that the origin of microstructural remodelling lies in the reaction of glial cells to neuronal activity. The lab currently uses dMRI to reveal new insights into brain organization and investigate mechanisms by which plasticity occurs with the mediation of glial cells.
Examining whether the organization of spatial memory domains relies on neuroplasticity, YA team focuses on developing MRI techniques for identifying and understanding cognition-driven remodelling processes at a whole-brain level.
Connectivity and Plasticity
The brain is highly dynamic. It adapts not only its function but also its structure, in response to both long-term experiences and short-term transient events. Diffusion MRI has become a probe of tissue microstructure, revealing that the brain undergoes significant microstructural remodelling within minutes of cognitive experiences.
Previous studies in the lab have suggested that the origin of microstructural remodelling lies in the reaction of glial cells to neuronal activity. The lab currently uses dMRI to reveal new insights into brain organization and investigate mechanisms by which plasticity occurs with the mediation of glial cells.
Examining whether the organization of spatial memory domains relies on neuroplasticity, YA team focuses on developing MRI techniques for identifying and understanding cognition-driven remodelling processes at a whole-brain level.
Cortical Fingerprinting
The brain is uniquely structured. At the beginning of the twentieth century, neuroanatomists discovered the complex and highly organized laminar structure of the cerebral cortex.
The repeated order and varying widths of the cortical layers, consisting of layers I-VI, have been assumed to play an important role in the development, function, and pathologies of the human brain. After T1-weighted MRI was successfully linked to myeline content, the belief was that the composition of the individual layers was beyond the resolution capabilities of MRI.
However, over the last decade, the lab has been developing advanced techniques for analyzing the laminar structure of the cortex. The team is currently working on exploring the different structures and connectivity patterns of the cortical layers in healthy and pathological human brains.
Cortical Fingerprinting
The brain is uniquely structured. At the beginning of the twentieth century, neuroanatomists discovered the complex and highly organized laminar structure of the cerebral cortex.
The repeated order and varying widths of the cortical layers, consisting of layers I-VI, have been assumed to play an important role in the development, function, and pathologies of the human brain. After T1-weighted MRI was successfully linked to myeline content, the belief was that the composition of the individual layers was beyond the resolution capabilities of MRI.
However, over the last decade, the lab has been developing advanced techniques for analyzing the laminar structure of the cortex. The team is currently working on exploring the different structures and connectivity patterns of the cortical layers in healthy and pathological human brains.
Brain Evolution
The brain is highly evolved. The mammalian brain is one the most complex and important biological systems. For years, researchers have attempted to describe the evolution of the brain in relationship to the evolution of its gray matter.
However, the evolution of the brain has largely remained a mystery. In a recent collaboration with Professor Yovel from the school of Zoology, the lab explored the white matter connectivity of 123 different mammalian species. The study shows that both connectivity and wiring cost are conserved across mammals. The team describes a conservation principle that maintains the overall connectivity: species with fewer interhemispheric connections exhibit better intrahemispheric connectivity.
Current focus is exploring the mechanisms by which these brain connectomes maintain their efficiencies despite great variation in cognitive functionality across species.
Brain Evolution
The brain is highly evolved. The mammalian brain is one the most complex and important biological systems. For years, researchers have attempted to describe the evolution of the brain in relationship to the evolution of its gray matter.
However, the evolution of the brain has largely remained a mystery. In a recent collaboration with Professor Yovel from the school of Zoology, the lab explored the white matter connectivity of 123 different mammalian species. The study shows that both connectivity and wiring cost are conserved across mammals. The team describes a conservation principle that maintains the overall connectivity: species with fewer interhemispheric connections exhibit better intrahemispheric connectivity.
Current focus is exploring the mechanisms by which these brain connectomes maintain their efficiencies despite great variation in cognitive functionality across species.
About the PI
Professor Yaniv Assaf is a computational neuroscientist and biophysicist that studies brain anatomy and connectivity. Yaniv is a Professor of Neurobiology at the School of neurobiology, biochemistry and biophysics of the faculty of life-sciences at Tel Aviv University and the Sagol school of neuroscience. Yaniv also serves as the Head of the Strauss Center for Neuroimaging at Tel Aviv University as well as of the Strauss Neuroplasticity Brain Bank (SNBB). In addition, Yaniv is also the co-founder of brainvivo, a startup company that aims to digitize human brains.
After receiving his graduate degrees in chemistry from Tel Aviv University, Yaniv Assaf completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). During his postdoc, Yaniv developed novel analysis tools that enhance the accuracy and sensitivity of MRI-based white matter mapping techniques, such as the Composite hindered and restricted model of diffusion (CHARMED) and AxCaliber.
Positions previously held by Yaniv include the head of the Sagol School of Neuroscience, and the head of the Department of Neurobiology at Tel Aviv University. He currently holds multiple grants, including grants from the Israel Science Foundation (ISF), the British Council, the NSF/BSF CRCNS program and from the European Research Council (ERC).
Yaniv research studies the brain focusing on four principal and intertwined subjects: brain connectivity and plasticity, structural connectomics, brain evolution and cortical fingerprinting. One such project involves the characterization of microstructural and connectivity changes that occur following real-life skill learning and brain plasticity and is the main focus of the lab today.
Funding
Pick Our Brain
A Method for In-Vivo Mapping of Axonal Diameter Distributions in the Human Brain Using Diffusion-Based Axonal Spectrum Imaging (AxSI)
20.06.2023
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