Neurofunctionality and Brain Language
Research group
Group Leader
Jordi Peña Casanova
The Neurofunctionality and Brain Language Research Group focuses on the study of the relationships between cognition, behavior, emotional states and the brain, with a special interest in language. These relationships are studied in the context of focal and diffuse brain damage, specifically, in neurodegenerative diseases.
The research group’s traditional areas of work are aimed at the development, standardization and validation of instruments for diagnosing and measuring cognitive abilities. The group places particular emphasis on the following neurological pathologies: Alzheimer’s disease, mild cognitive impairment, vascular dementia, Lew Body dementia.
The master’s students in Neuropsychology and Behavioural Neurology from the Psychiatry and Legal Medicine department of the Autonomous University of Barcelona are actively involved in the research group.
The research group collaborates with the Neurosurgery Department (Dr. Gerard Conesa) in functional brain mapping studies, in which electrical stimulation of the cerebral cortex in vigil patients is carried out. These studies make high-level neurosurgery possible, which brings unquestionable benefits for the patients, given that during the surgical procedure, the cognitive brain regions can be distinguished and protected from physical damage.
Members
Rosa Maria Manero Borràs (Researcher)
Víctor Manuel Puente Périz (Researcher)
Gloria Villalba Martínez (Researcher)
Ane Miren Crespo Cuevas (Technician)
Aida Fernández Lebrero (Technician)
Greta García Escobar (Technician)
Núria Massuet Pujadas (Technician)
Albert Puig Pijoan (Technician)
Gonzalo Sánchez Benavides (Technician)
Main Publications
• Rodríguez de Dios N, Couñago F, López JL, Calvo P, Murcia M, Rico M, Vallejo C, Luna J, Trueba I, Cigarral C, Farré N, Manero RM, Durán X, Samper P. Treatment Design and Rationale for a Randomized Trial of Prophylactic Cranial Irradiation With or Without Hippocampal Avoidance for SCLC: PREMER Trial on Behalf of the Oncologic Group for the Study of Lung Cancer/Spanish Radiation Oncology Group-Radiation Oncology Clinical Research Group. Clin Lung Cancer 2018; 19(5): e693-e697. IF 4.204. Q2.
• Puig-Pijoan A, Giralt E, Zabalza A, Manero RM, Sánchez-Benavides G, García-Escobar G, Pérez-Enríquez C, Gómez-González A, Ois A, Rodríguez-Campello A, Cuadrado E, Jiménez-Conde J, Peña-Casanova J, Roquer J. Underdiagnosis of Unilateral Spatial Neglect in stroke unit. Acta Neurol Scand 2018; 138(5): 441-446. IF 3.126. Q2.
Ongoing Research Projects
• NEURONORMA.CAT: Catalan adaptation and normalization of neuropsychological instruments
- Financing institution: Fundació La Marató de TV3 (20143010)
- Period: from 2015 to 2018
- Principal investigator: Peña Casanova, Jordi
Clinical Trials Signed in 2018
• Estudio multicéntrico, doble ciego, aleatorizado y controlado de grupos paralelos para investigar la eficacia y seguridad de BI 425809, administrado oralmente durante un periodo de tratamiento de 12 semanas, comparado con placebo en pacientes con deterioro cognitivo debido a enfermedad de Alzheimer
- Register: 1346.23
- Principal investigator: Puig Pijoan, Albert
• Estudio de Fase III, multicéntrico, aleatorizado, doble ciego, controlado con placebo y de grupos paralelos para evaluar la eficacia y seguridad de Gantenerumab en pacientes con enfermedad de alzheimer precoz (de prodrómica a leve)
- Register WN39658
- Principal investigator: Puig Pijoan, Albert
Other
• Jordi Peña Casanova: Doctor Honoris Causa. National University “de los Andes”. Cusco, Perú
C/ Doctor Aiguader, 88
08003 Barcelona
(+34) 93 316 04 00
info@imim.es