Meet a Researcher Generating Digital Brains to Study How Depression Affects Parkinson’s Disease

While Parkinson’s disease (PD) may be most known for its movement symptoms, there are many non-movement symptoms that accompany the disease as well, including depression. Research has shown that depression is associated with increased PD severity, implying that the brain circuits affected in depression may also worsen Parkinson’s.  

Understanding how depression and PD overlap in the brain is the focus of Henricus Ruhe, MD, PhD, recipient of a Parkinson’s Foundation Impact Award, as identifying the connections between the two could uncover improved treatments for both. To take on this research challenge, he will use a new technique called whole-brain computational modeling — in essence, creating a virtual brain based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans. 

“Recent developments in computational neuroscience have led to a better understanding of the hierarchical organization of the brain and the identification of a functionally rich club that orchestrates differential functions of the human brain,” Dr. Ruhe said about the background of the modeling technique he will be using.  

For this research, he will collaborate closely with Morten L. Kringelbach, PhD, from Oxford University and Gustavo Deco, PhD, from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, who developed the techniques.  

The process is complex, but put simply, it allows scientists to use the data collected from MRIs to recreate digital simulations or models of the brains of different groups of patients to experiment with changing these models using computers (i.e. perturbations). The research does not require petri dishes or test animals. 

Using MRI data from people with PD who either do or do not also have depression, Dr. Ruhe plans to create digital brains of these PD patients to study their communalities and differences. Analysis of these models can help to map out nodes, brain regions that activate together, and illuminate how information moves between these nodes in the brain in different ways and contexts. 

Identifying which nodes are affected by PD and depression could establish new therapeutic targets that address both conditions at once. This modeling technique also allows Dr. Ruhe to simulate the effects of different drugs on these virtual brains that affect those nodes.  

“Subsequent computational changes — which mimic the reactivity of the brain to external stimulation — can innovatively identify critical nodes important for transitions to and away from disease states,” he said. “To date, these methods have never been used to investigate depression in Parkinson’s.” 

With the power of modern computing and data analysis, Dr. Ruhe will be able to investigate new treatment strategies for people with depression and PD, all within this digital workspace. Dr. Ruhe is excited to begin this work and for the potential it holds to help those with Parkinson’s.  

“We expect that with better knowledge of brain dysfunction in depression in PD, and with the whole brain models we will be constructing, we innovatively will bring a more personalized treatment approach in reach,” he said. 

Meet more Parkinson’s researchers! Explore our My PD Stories featuring PD researchers.