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Neurology

Neurology studies the nervous system and its disorders. While the major clinical challenges — neurodegenerative diseases, epilepsy, neuromuscular conditions — remain at the heart of the field, understanding the brain also involves studying its functional organisation, its connectivity and its plasticity, at the interface between fundamental neuroscience and translational applications.

Inovarion’s contributions in neurology reflect precisely this dual dimension. A significant part of the work concerns the functional organisation of the brain, studied by resting-state functional MRI in the non-human primate and in humans. Our teams have contributed to mapping the networks connecting the amygdala to the medial prefrontal cortex[6], to identifying a prefrontal operculum involved in the cognitive control of speech[2], to describing the organisation of the cingulate cortex[7], and to analysing the effects of anaesthesia on brain connectivity[10]. This work, published in Brain, Nature Communications and Cerebral Cortex, sheds light on the principles of brain organisation and their evolution across species. This comparative approach between non-human primate and human helps to interpret preclinical models in light of the organisation of the human brain.

On the pathological side, Inovarion has contributed to the study of epileptogenesis through spatial transcriptomic mapping, revealing a region-specific glial activation that extends beyond the hippocampus[1] — an approach that identifies the territories and cell types involved in the onset of the disease. The neuromuscular junction and muscle are the subject of other translational work: the role of the GDF5 factor in neuromuscular ageing and sarcopenia[5] — reinnervation, Schwann cells — and alterations of mechanotransduction in lamin-related congenital muscular dystrophy, which disrupt the growth of skeletal muscle.

Other work explores neuronal plasticity and development: the maturation of social memory in the CA2 area of the hippocampus, the role of interneuron-oligodendrocyte communication in fear extinction[4], and Sonic hedgehog-mediated axon guidance[3]. The development of brain rhythms — sensorimotor beta bursts from infancy to adulthood[8], prefrontal gamma oscillations — is also studied. A model of treatment-resistant depression, addressed through deep-brain stimulation[9], completes this picture.

This research draws on resting-state functional MRI, spatial transcriptomics (Visium technology), electrophysiology (patch-clamp, EEG, electrocorticography), AAV vectors and a range of animal models from rodent to non-human primate. This methodological diversity makes it possible to approach the nervous system at every scale, from the molecule to the brain network.

Inovarion’s work in neurology thus spans both fundamental neuroscience — brain organisation and connectivity — and translational questions in epilepsy and neuromuscular pathology. Our teams support projects that call for a mechanistic understanding of the nervous system, deploying the imaging, transcriptomics and electrophysiology best suited to each scientific question.

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Representative publications

  1. Dufour et al. Spatiotemporal transcriptomic mapping reveals region-specific glial activation and astrocyte shifts in epileptogenesis beyond the hippocampus. Acta Neuropathol Commun, 2026. PubMed
  2. Verstraete et al. The prefrontal operculum, a human-specific hub for the cognitive control of speech. Commun Biol, 2025. PubMed
  3. Dolique et al. A central role for Numb/Nbl in multiple Shh-mediated axon repulsion processes. iScience, 2025. Record → · PubMed
  4. Plaisier et al. Prefrontal gamma oscillations and fear extinction learning require early postnatal interneuron-oligodendroglia communication. Nature Communications, 2025. PubMed
  5. Traoré et al. GDF5 as a rejuvenating treatment for age-related neuromuscular failure. Brain, 2024. Record → · PubMed
  6. Giacometti et al. Differential functional organization of amygdala-medial prefrontal cortex networks in macaque and human. Commun Biol, 2024. Record → · PubMed
  7. Ducret et al. Medial to lateral frontal functional connectivity mapping reveals the organization of cingulate cortex. Cereb Cortex, 2024. Record → · PubMed
  8. Rayson et al. Bursting with Potential: How Sensorimotor Beta Bursts Develop from Infancy to Adulthood. J Neurosci, 2023. Record → · PubMed
  9. Gardner et al. Slow Wave Sleep Deficits in the Flinders Sensitive Line Rodent Model of Depression: Effects of Medial Forebrain Bundle Deep-Brain Stimulation. Neuroscience, 2022. Record → · PubMed
  10. Giacometti et al. Frontal cortical functional connectivity is impacted by anaesthesia in macaques. Cereb Cortex, 2022. Record → · PubMed