People

My research focuses on functional and structural plasticity with learning and rehabilitation in both humans and rodents.

I use behavioural training interventions and test how factors such as performance level or amount of practice influence brain changes at a functional, structural and neurochemical level in humans (fMRI, rs-fMRI, DTI and MR spectroscopy).

Additionally, I use real-time neurofeedback fMRI to test if endogenous brain activity modulation can lead to functional brain changes and behavioural improvements in healthy participants and chronic stroke survivors.

My preclinical work focuses on the underlying cellular mechanisms of brain plasticity, with a focus on white matter and myelination.

In my research, I create and apply data analysis tools to extract information from biomedical signals and clinical time series.

My main aim is to reveal the subtle changes that major diseases (e.g., Alzheimer's and epilepsy) cause in the brain activity.

In collaboration with researchers at Edinburgh, across the UK and overseas, I am currently working in the processing and analysis of biomedical signals, particularly human brain activity. By developing and applying signal processing methods, I aim at increasing our understanding of how several brain conditions progress. Of particular interest is the evaluation of brain functional connectivity in both neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases to understand how they affect the way in which different brain regions interact with each other. I am also interested in the interplay between structure and function in the brain and in the application of pattern recognition techniques to highly-dimensional clinical datasets to support decision making. Finally, I also work in the development of non-invasive methods for rehabilitation purposes, being either the dexterous controls prostheses for amputees or brain-computer interfaces.

For additional information, please see: http://www.research.ed.ac.uk/portal/jescuder

Neural stem cell therapy for stroke: A rodent based project to identify potential MRI indices of functional recovery

Stroke is leading cause of severe disability in adults. The clot-buster, Alteplase is the only licensed drug available to treat acute stroke patients however, this is only available to a small percentage of total sufferers and must be administered within the first 4.5 hours after the onset of the stoke. Although substantial research has been carried out to develop new therapies for acute brain damage and chronic disability, the translation from bench-to-bedside has proved to be a significant hurdle.

Many groups have focused on administering stem cells of patient-own or external origin to enhance brain repair. The use of  the conditionally immortalized human neural stem cell line CTX0E03 to treat sub-acute/chronic stroke is soon to enter Phase II clinical trials.

My project is an adjunct to existing pre-clinical work; aiming to understand  how the cells improve recovery using clinically applicable MRI methodologies.

I have successfully developed functional tests suitable of detecting long term functional changes post stroke. With the support of Dr Jozien Goense, we have set up resting-state fMRI in the anaesthetised rodent. With this technique at our disposal, we hope to identify indices of functional improvement in resting-state sensorimotor networks and values derived from the diffusion tensor, which may correlated with improved sensorimotor function.

This is a SPIRIT funded studentship; the stem cell technology, surgical equipment, training and a contribution of supervision for this project are supplied by industrial partner, ReNeuron ltd. (Guildford, UK).

I am a registered STEM ambassador and have participated in outreach events with EuroStemCell.

I completed my basic medical training from Govt Medical College, Thrissur, India, and MD in psychiatry from TN Medical college, Bombay University, India. Following this, I was sponsored by the British Council PGME scheme to train in psychiatry in the UK.  I am a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and completed my PhD from the University of Glasgow.

I currently work as a Consultant Psychiatrist with the NHS GGC in ESTEEM, the only early intervention in psychosis team in Scotland.

Academic area of interest include using functional MRI and functional connectivity to predict outcomes in complex mental health problems. Linking inflammation to brain connectivity.

My research is mainly focused on investigating the cognitive and neural correlates of a range of neuropsychiatric symptoms (e.g., delusions, sleep disorder, depression, apathy).

I am interested in improving the diagnosis/detection of Alzheimer’s disease and other types of dementia (especially in the earliest stages) through customised assessment methods or through the use of multivariate markers.  Variants of these markers could also be used to stratify patients or as outcome measures for clinical drug trials.  Relatedly, I have interests in developing methods to speed drug development.

I have projects underway to develop serum blood-based biomarkers for the dementias (in combination with other methods), to investigate the diagnostic utility of customised neuropsychological tests (and analysis methods), and in the near future hope to begin a project that will utilise electrophysiological methods.

I have an additional research line that focuses on understanding the neural bases of hypnosis and suggestibility. By targeting individual differences suggestion can be used to study elements of psychosis, changes in agency, and other interesting psychological and behavioural phenomena.

Within my research I use structural magnetic resonance imaging techniques (voxel-based morphometry and cortical thickness assessment), functional magnetic resonance imaging (brain activity and connectivity analyses), electrophysiological methods, and neuropsychological assessment.

Social cognition, neuroeconomics, computational psychiatry, schizophrenia, anxiety, bipolar disorder, depression, imaging genetics