Menno Schoonheim

Specialization

I am an Associate Professor at the Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences at the Amsterdam UMC and scientific director of the MS Center Amsterdam. I am mainly specialized in advanced imaging methods to better understand and predict the different forms of clinical progression in multiple sclerosis (MS). Imaging tools I use are based on structural and functional MRI as well as magnetoencephalography, looking at aspects like brain volumes and structural and functional networks.

Focus of research

My research line focuses on providing a better understanding of clinical progression in multiple sclerosis (MS). MS is actually a network disorder, as the progressive formation of white matter lesions leads to a disconnection of axonal bundles and hence a disruption of the brain network, in turn leading to extensive neurodegeneration of network hubs like the thalamus. As such, my main focus is on understanding how alterations to (functional and structural) brain networks relate to complex symptoms such as cognitive dysfunction, how networks change during progression, and which patterns are predictive of decline. Apart from such a mechanistic approach to study the brain, my aim is also to provide the neuro(radio)logist advanced imaging markers that can be used in clinic, such as atrophy of the thalamus. In addition to MS, I also investigate similar network-focused mechanisms of progression in psychiatric disorders such as the effects of childhood trauma and stress.

Key words: Clinical progression, multiple sclerosis, brain network, connectivity, functional MRI, magnetoencephalography, diffusion tensor imaging, atrophy, cognition.