Can an ecological fear reaction reduce chronic low-grade inflammation?

Louise Bønnelykke-Behrndtz, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University

Abstract: A fear reaction is fundamental for human survival and designed for escaping danger. This natural fear response is associated with healthy and transient activation of the immune system, thus providing effective mechanisms against potential trauma and pathogens. If activation of the immune system fails to resolve it results in continuous low-grade inflammation, which is present in around 10% of otherwise healthy individuals, and associated with the risk of several diseases.

In this study, we aim to investigate whether an ecological fear reaction can provide non-medical immune modulation and resolution of low-grade inflammation, including volunteers signing up for the Dystopia Haunted House event in 2023. Participants will have markers of fear and inflammatory levels estimated at baseline, on-site, and post-event, providing a better understanding of the dynamics and interaction between the adrenergic and immune systems.

Validating non-invasive conductivity estimation methods for their application in human electrophysiology

Tamas Minarik, Center for Functionally Integrative Neuroscience, Department of Clinical Medicine, Aarhus University

Abstract: A critical question in most non-invasive electrophysiological research is to find out which brain regions a certain signal originates from. This task is non-trivial and especially in the case of electroencephalography (EEG) it is particularly challenging as high-quality source estimation relies on accurate estimates of the electrical current conductivity in the brain and across the head. This effectively means the need for obtaining high-resolution conductivity maps of the entire brain volume, the skull and the scalp. Several non-invasive methods have been proposed over the years and some MRI-based methods are particularly promising. However, none of these methods has been validated with phantoms approximating anatomically realistic volumes and possessing precisely known conductivity values. Thus, currently we have no understanding of how accurate the produced conductivity maps really are. Hence, building an anatomically realistic conductivity phantom to establish the ground truth is an essential step enabling the field to move forward and to achieve high-quality source estimation with EEG – the most affordable and widely used method to record electrical brain activity non-invasively. The current research will take on the challenging task of building an anatomically reasonably accurate conductivity phantom and test the accuracy of two MRI-based conductivity estimation methods. Ultimately leading to significant improvement in the ability to determine the origin of the EEG signals; be it oscillations or ERPs.

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