Our work is focused on the study of the role of the basal ganglia and the cerebellum in the regulation of oscillatory activity and cortical synchronization. Anomalies in oscillatory activity at the basal ganglia and the cortex might play a significant pathophysiological role in Parkinson’s disease, so the modification of the oscillatory patterns might potentially be a new therapeutic approach in Parkinson’s disease.Our research is carried out in two different labs: Human neurophysiology lab, physically located at the Clínica Universitaria de Navarra, and Systems neurophysiology lab (rat and monkey), located at CIMA.

Our studies are structured in four main lines:

design of new mathematical approaches to study oscillatory activity and synchronization at different levels

neurophysiological studies in healthy subjects and Parkinson’s disease patients directed to the study of oscillatory activity in the cortex and basal ganglia

recordings in animal models of Parkinson’s disease

development of mathematical models of neuronal networks to simulate Parkinson’s disease.

Ongoing projects in the laboratory include:

Dynamics of oscillatory activity in the  basal ganglia of normal and parkinsonian rats

Study of the effect of dopamine depletion (6-OH dopamine) and cerebellar lesions on the oscillatory steady-state responses in rats

Detailed study of human auditory steady-state responses and their relationship with cerebellar lesions and cognitive factors

Role of oscillatory activity, motor inhibition and the mirror neuron system in the pathophysiology of Parkinson’s disease

Effects of dopamine on the cortical and basal ganglia oscillatory activity in Parkinson’s disease patients

Development of neuronal networks models to simulate Parkinson's disease