Arno Villringer

Last updated
Arno Villringer
Born1958 (age 64–65)
Germany
AwardsPater Leander Fischer Award, German Society of Laser Medicine (2005), endowed professorship (by Deutsche Forschungs Gemeinschaft) at Charité – Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (1996), Gerhard Hess Award, DFG (1993), DFG foreign exchange scholarship (1986)
Scientific career
Fields Medicine, neurology, stroke research, brain plasticity
Institutions Max Planck Institute (professor, director), University of Leipzig (Professor), Charité - Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin (Honorary professor)

Arno Villringer (born 1958, Schopfheim, Germany) is a Director at the Department of Neurology [1] at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences [2] in Leipzig, Germany; Director of the Department of Cognitive Neurology at University of Leipzig Medical Center; [3] and Academic Director of the Berlin School of Mind and Brain [4] and the Mind&Brain Institute, [5] Berlin. He holds a full professorship at University of Leipzig and an honorary professorship at Charité, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. From July 2022 to June 2025 he is the Chairperson of the Human Sciences Section of the Max Planck Society. [6]

Contents

Academic career and achievements

Arno Villringer studied medicine at the University of Freiburg (German: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg) from 1977 to 1984, graduating with a Doctor of Medicine (summa cum laude) higher degree in 1984. After a fellowship at the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School in 1985, he worked in Munich, Germany, becoming a board certified neurologist in 1992, and gaining his professorial degree (Habilitation) at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich in 1994. [7] From 1993 to 2007, he worked at the Department of Neurology at the Charité, Berlin, first as a consultant, and later as head of the Department of Neurology at the Benjamin Franklin Campus. Since 2006 he has been Academic Director of the Berlin School of Mind and Brain [4] and the Mind&Brain institute (since 2010), [5] since 2007 he has been Director of the Department of Neurology at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, [1] and director of the Department of Cognitive Neurology at the University of Leipzig Medical Center. [7]

Research foci

Research interests

Arno Villringer is the author of more than 600 academic articles (as of 2022) with more than >56000 citations, and an h-index of 116 (Google Scholar, August 2022) [8]

Pioneering work

Perfusion imaging

Arno Villringer pioneered magnetic resonance perfusion imaging of the brain by demonstrating that susceptibility contrast agents such as GdDTPA may be employed in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). [9] The susceptibility-based contrast mechanism later became relevant for the Blood Oxygenation Level Dependent (BOLD) signal in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Optical imaging

In 1993, Villringer showed feasibility of noninvasive functional near-infrared spectroscopy and imaging (fNIRS, fNIRI) of the human brain [10] [11] followed by > 50 publications establishing /validating fNIRS. Physiology empowered brain imaging: Since 1992 his research focus has been on neurophysiological mechanisms underlying brain function and plasticity, using multi-modal brain imaging, e.g., signatures of neuronal inhibition in functional brain imaging, [12] [13] combined fNIRS/fMRI to establish relationship between BOLD and deoxy-Hb concentration in fMRI, [14] combined EEG/fMRI to show fMRI correlates of background rhythms [15] [16] and simultaneously assess neuronal spiking and fMRI. [17]

Brain plasticity, development of vascular risk factors, stroke

Villringer currently pursues the hypothesis that (maladaptive) brain plasticity is crucial for the development of vascular risk factors leading to stroke and for the (lack of) recovery after stroke, and that brain plasticity can be beneficially modified. For this purpose, he employs multi-modal brain imaging to understand basic neurophysiological mechanisms underlying human brain plasticity in cortical and subcortical brain areas, and their interaction. Behavioral correlates include sensorimotor function, reaction to stress, and emotions. The clinical applications are (i) prevention of vascular risk factors (obesity, hypertension) and subsequent stroke, and (ii) recovery after stroke.

Expert activities/board memberships

Sources: [7]

Memberships in scientific arganizations

Awards

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Functional neuroimaging</span>

Functional neuroimaging is the use of neuroimaging technology to measure an aspect of brain function, often with a view to understanding the relationship between activity in certain brain areas and specific mental functions. It is primarily used as a research tool in cognitive neuroscience, cognitive psychology, neuropsychology, and social neuroscience.

The first neuroimaging technique ever is the so-called 'human circulation balance' invented by Angelo Mosso in the 1880s and able to non-invasively measure the redistribution of blood during emotional and intellectual activity. Then, in the early 1900s, a technique called pneumoencephalography was set. This process involved draining the cerebrospinal fluid from around the brain and replacing it with air, altering the relative density of the brain and its surroundings, to cause it to show up better on an x-ray, and it was considered to be incredibly unsafe for patients. A form of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and computed tomography (CT) were developed in the 1970s and 1980s. The new MRI and CT technologies were considerably less harmful and are explained in greater detail below. Next came SPECT and PET scans, which allowed scientists to map brain function because, unlike MRI and CT, these scans could create more than just static images of the brain's structure. Learning from MRI, PET and SPECT scanning, scientists were able to develop functional MRI (fMRI) with abilities that opened the door to direct observation of cognitive activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Functional near-infrared spectroscopy</span> Optical technique for monitoring brain activity

Functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) is an optical brain monitoring technique which uses near-infrared spectroscopy for the purpose of functional neuroimaging. Using fNIRS, brain activity is measured by using near-infrared light to estimate cortical hemodynamic activity which occur in response to neural activity. Alongside EEG, fNIRS is one of the most common non-invasive neuroimaging techniques which can be used in portable contexts. The signal is often compared with the BOLD signal measured by fMRI and is capable of measuring changes both in oxy- and deoxyhemoglobin concentration, but can only measure from regions near the cortical surface. fNIRS may also be referred to as Optical Topography (OT) and is sometimes referred to simply as NIRS.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neuroimaging</span> Set of techniques to measure and visualize aspects of the nervous system

Neuroimaging is the use of quantitative (computational) techniques to study the structure and function of the central nervous system, developed as an objective way of scientifically studying the healthy human brain in a non-invasive manner. Increasingly it is also being used for quantitative studies of brain disease and psychiatric illness. Neuroimaging is a highly multidisciplinary research field and is not a medical specialty.

EEG-fMRI is a multimodal neuroimaging technique whereby EEG and fMRI data are recorded synchronously for the study of electrical brain activity in correlation with haemodynamic changes in brain during the electrical activity, be it normal function or associated with disorders.

Jens Frahm is a German biophysicist and physicochemist. He is Research Group Leader of the Biomedical NMR group at the Max Planck Institute (MPI) for Multidisciplinary Sciences in Göttingen, Germany.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences</span>

The Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences is located in Leipzig, Germany. The institute was founded in 2004 by a merger between the former Max Planck Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience in Leipzig and the Max Planck Institute for Psychological Research in Munich. It is one of 86 institutes in the Max Planck Society.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging</span> Laboratory of the University College London

The Wellcome Centre for Human Neuroimaging at University College London is a world-leading interdisciplinary centre for neuroimaging research based in London, United Kingdom. Researchers at the Centre use expertise to investigate how the human brain generates behaviour, thoughts and feelings and how to use this knowledge to help patients with neurological and psychiatric disorders. Human neuroimaging allows scientists to non-invasively investigate the brain structure and functions including Action, Decision Making, Emotion, Hearing, Language, Memory, Navigation, Seeing, Self awareness, Social Behaviour and the Bayesian Brain

Neurophysics is the branch of biophysics dealing with the development and use of physical methods to gain information about the nervous system. Neurophysics is an interdisciplinary science using physics and combining it with other neurosciences to better understand neural processes. The methods used include the techniques of experimental biophysics and other physical measurements such as EEG mostly to study electrical, mechanical or fluidic properties, as well as theoretical and computational approaches. The term "neurophysics" is a portmanteau of "neuron" and "physics".

Nikos K. Logothetis is a Greek biologist and neuroscientist. Logothetis studies visual perception and object recognition; he is well-known for his work demonstrating that BOLD fMRI data is related to neuronal activity. Logothetis directed the department of Physiology of Cognitive Processes at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics in Tübingen from 1996 to 2020. He will co-direct the International Center for Primate Brain Research in Shanghai beginning in late 2020 or early 2021.

Robert Turner is a British neuroscientist, physicist, and social anthropologist. He has been a director and professor at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig, Germany, and is an internationally recognized expert in brain physics and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Coils inside every MRI scanner owe their shape to his ideas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain</span>

Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to produce high quality two-dimensional or three-dimensional images of the brain and brainstem as well as the cerebellum without the use of ionizing radiation (X-rays) or radioactive tracers.

Mark Steven Cohen is an American neuroscientist and early pioneer of functional brain imaging using magnetic resonance imaging. He currently is a Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, Radiology, Psychology, Biomedical Physics and Biomedical Engineering at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior and the Staglin Center for Cognitive Neuroscience. He is also a performing musician.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Resting state fMRI</span> Type of functional magnetic resonance imaging

Resting state fMRI is a method of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) that is used in brain mapping to evaluate regional interactions that occur in a resting or task-negative state, when an explicit task is not being performed. A number of resting-state brain networks have been identified, one of which is the default mode network. These brain networks are observed through changes in blood flow in the brain which creates what is referred to as a blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) signal that can be measured using fMRI.

Functional magnetic resonance spectroscopy of the brain (fMRS) uses magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to study brain metabolism during brain activation. The data generated by fMRS usually shows spectra of resonances, instead of a brain image, as with MRI. The area under peaks in the spectrum represents relative concentrations of metabolites.

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to brain mapping:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wolfgang Grodd</span> German radiologist

Prof. Dr. med. Wolfgang Grodd is a German neuroradiologist and professor emeritus of the University hospital at the University of Tübingen. He is known for his scientific works on the development and application of structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging in metabolic diseases, sensorimotor representation, language production, and cognitive processing, cerebellum, thalamus, and basal ganglia. Currently, Wolfgang Grodd is a research scientist at the Department of the High-Field MR at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics.

Petra Ritter is a German neuroscientist and medical doctor at Charité in Berlin. Her field is computational neuroscience and her focus is developing brain simulations for individual people with neurological conditions, combining EEG and neuroimaging data.

Denis Le Bihan is a medical doctor, physicist, member of the Institut de France, member of the French Academy of Technologies and director since 2007 of NeuroSpin, an institution of the Atomic Energy and Alternative Energy Commission (CEA) in Saclay, dedicated to the study of the brain by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) with a very high magnetic field. Denis Le Bihan has received international recognition for his outstanding work, introducing new imaging methods, particularly for the study of the human brain, as evidenced by the many international awards he has received, such as the Gold Medal of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance in Medicine (2001), the coveted Lounsbery Prize, the Louis D. Prize from the Institut de France, the prestigious Honda Prize (2012), the Louis-Jeantet Prize (2014), the Rhein Foundation Award (2021). His work has focused on the introduction, development and application of highly innovative methods, notably diffusion MRI.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Department of Neurology".
  2. ↑ "Home".
  3. ↑ "Unser Team".
  4. 1 2 "Berlin School of Mind and Brain: Bodies and committees".
  5. 1 2 "Berlin School of Mind and Brain: MindBrainBody Institute".
  6. 1 2 "The Human Sciences Section".
  7. 1 2 3 "Curriculum Vitae".
  8. ↑ "Arno Villringer".
  9. ↑ Villringer, Arno; Rosen, Bruce R.; Belliveau, John W.; Ackerman, Jerome L.; Lauffer, Randall B.; Buxton, Richard B.; Chao, Yong-Sheng; Wedeenand, Van J.; Brady, Thomas J. (1988). "Dynamic imaging with lanthanide chelates in normal brain: Contrast due to magnetic susceptibility effects". Magnetic Resonance in Medicine. 6 (2): 164–174. doi:10.1002/mrm.1910060205. PMID   3367774. S2CID   41228095.
  10. ↑ Villringer, A.; Planck, J.; Hock, C.; Schleinkofer, L.; Dirnagl, U. (1993). "Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS): A new tool to study hemodynamic changes during activation of brain function in human adults". Neuroscience Letters. 154 (1–2): 101–104. doi:10.1016/0304-3940(93)90181-j. PMID   8361619. S2CID   45676442.
  11. ↑ Villringer, A.; Chance, B. (1997). "Non-invasive optical spectroscopy and imaging of human brain function". Trends in Neurosciences. 20 (10): 435–442. doi: 10.1016/s0166-2236(97)01132-6 . PMID   9347608. S2CID   18077839.
  12. ↑ Wenzel, Rüdiger; Wobst, Petra; Heekeren, Hauke H.; Kwong, Kenneth K.; Brandt, Stephan A.; Kohl, Matthias; Obrig, Hellmuth; Dirnagl, Ulrich; Villringer, Arno (2000). "Saccadic Suppression Induces Focal Hypooxygenation in the Occipital Cortex". Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism. 20 (7): 1103–1110. doi: 10.1097/00004647-200007000-00010 . PMID   10908044. S2CID   33827135.
  13. ↑ Blankenburg, Felix; Taskin, Birol; Ruben, Jan; Moosmann, Matthias; Ritter, Petra; Curio, Gabriel; Villringer, Arno (2003). "Imperceptible Stimuli and Sensory Processing Impediment". Science. 299 (5614): 1864. doi:10.1126/science.1080806. PMID   12649475. S2CID   33732258.
  14. ↑ Kleinschmidt, Andreas; Obrig, Hellmuth; Requardt, Martin; Merboldt, Klaus-Dietmar; Dirnagl, Ulrich; Villringer, Arno; Frahm, Jens (1996). "Simultaneous Recording of Cerebral Blood Oxygenation Changes during Human Brain Activation by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Near-Infrared Spectroscopy". Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism. 16 (5): 817–826. doi: 10.1097/00004647-199609000-00006 . PMID   8784226. S2CID   10720551.
  15. ↑ Moosmann, Matthias; Ritter, Petra; Krastel, Ina; Brink, Andrea; Thees, Sebastian; Blankenburg, Felix; Taskin, Birol; Obrig, Hellmuth; Villringer, Arno (2003). "Correlates of alpha rhythm in functional magnetic resonance imaging and near infrared spectroscopy". NeuroImage. 20 (1): 145–158. doi:10.1016/s1053-8119(03)00344-6. PMID   14527577. S2CID   39614622.
  16. ↑ Ritter, Petra; Moosmann, Matthias; Villringer, Arno (2009). "Rolandic alpha and beta EEG rhythms' strengths are inversely related to fMRI-BOLD signal in primary somatosensory and motor cortex". Human Brain Mapping. 30 (4): 1168–1187. doi:10.1002/hbm.20585. PMC   6870597 . PMID   18465747.
  17. ↑ Ritter, Petra; Freyer, Frank; Curio, Gabriel; Villringer, Arno (2008). "High-frequency (600 Hz) population spikes in human EEG delineate thalamic and cortical fMRI activation sites". NeuroImage. 42 (2): 483–490. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2008.05.026. PMID   18586526. S2CID   25810037.
  18. ↑ "Kompetenznetz Schlaganfall | Competence Network Stroke".
  19. ↑ "Arno Villringer | International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course".
  20. ↑ "About the Centre".
  21. ↑ "Structure - NeuroCure | Cluster of Excellence".
  22. ↑ "SFB 1052 Mechanismen der Adipositas - Sfb1052 Mechanismen der Adipositas". www.sfb1052.de.
  23. 1 2 "Home".
  24. ↑ "Imprs Comp2Psych".
  25. ↑ "Berlin School of Mind and Brain: RTG 2386".
  26. ↑ "People".
  27. ↑ Pater-Leander-Fischer-Preis der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Lasermedizin an Berliner Neurologen (Pater Leander Fischer Award for Berlin neurologists) "IDW press release".
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