Enrico Amico

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About me

I am a physicist by training, turned into a computational neuroscientist during my PhD and Postdoctoral research. After earning my Master's in Physics in 2012 from Federico II University in Napoli, Italy, I decided to follow my passion for the scientific study of consciousness.

I enrolled in a joint PhD program between the Coma Science Group of Prof. Steven Laureys, University of Liège, and the Marinazzo Lab at the University of Ghent, Belgium. During my four years there as a PhD student I mainly focused on implementing new methods for brain connectivity assessment across levels of consciousness.

In 2016 I joined the CONNplexity Lab  (headed by Prof. Joaquín Goñi) as a Postdoctoral researcher, where I made contributions on proposing new network science models for functional and structural brain connectomics.

I am currently an SNSF Ambizione Fellow at EPFL and University of Geneva, where I am Principal Investigator on different research lines in brain networks and brain connectomics (see slides above, or check my Google Scholar profile).

 

© Photo by Alain Herzog / EPFL

© Photo by Alain Herzog / EPFL

Brain Connectomics: network science for brain data

Brain Connectomics is a rapidly growing area of research. It is based on the investigation of functional and structural connections in the human brain, modeled as networks. Structural connections between brain region pairs are modeled from diffusion-weighted imaging data, normally denominated as structural connectome or structural connectivity. Functional connections are modeled from functional magnetic resonance imaging data, by measuring temporal statistical dependences between brain region pairs, usually defined as functional connectivity or functional connectome.

The analysis of brain networks has recently risen thanks to the development of new imaging acquisition methods as well as new tools from graph theory and dynamical systems. Examining human brain connectivity data offers new insights on how the integration and segregation of information in the brain relates to human behavior, and how this organization may be altered in neurological diseases and disorders.

 

 

Teaching

Interested in Brain Connectomics? Every fall I am teaching a course on this topic, open to all EPFL and non-EPFL PhD students. More info on the 2022 course here.

 

Job openings

I am always on the lookout for funding opportunities to hire  enthusiastic PhD students/Postdocs. If you would like to join my group or if you are looking for collaborations/co-supervision, please send an email to enrico.amico@epfl.ch.

If you are a Master student at EPFL/University of Geneva, here is the list of projects you could do under my supervision.

 

Research group and supervisions

Andrea Santoro, Postdoctoral Researcher, EPFL

Juan Carlos Farah, PhD student, EPFL (co-mentorship)

Emahnuel Troisi Lopez, PhD student, Parthenope University-Naples (co-mentorship)

Pablo Mallaroni, PhD student, Maastricht University (co-mentorship)

Mihaly Gayer, Master student, University of Geneva (co-mentorship)

Ekansh Sareen, Master student, IIIT-D India (formerly:co-mentorship)

Hanna Tolle, Master student, University of Cambridge (EPFL E3 program)

 

Most Recent Publications

Higher-order organization of multivariate time series. A. Santoro, F. Battiston, G. Petri, E. Amico. Nature Physics, 2023. Download the code here. EPFL news coverage here.

Functional brain connectomes reflect acute and chronic cannabis use. J.G. Ramaekers, N. L. Mason, S. W. Toennes, E. L. Theunissen, E. Amico. Scientific Reports, 2022.

When makes you unique: Temporality of the human brain fingerprint. D. Van De Ville Y. Farouj, M. Preti, R. Liégeois, E. Amico. Science Advances, 2021. Dowload the code here. EPFL news coverage here. Explainer videos: [English French Italian]

The physics of higher-order interactions in complex systems. F. Battiston, E. Amico, A. Barrat, G. Bianconi, G. Ferraz de Arruda, B. Franceschiello, I. Iacopini, S. Kéfi, V. Latora, Y. Moreno, M. Murray, T. Peixoto, F. Vaccarino, G. Petri. Nature Physics, 2021. 

Toward an information theoretical description of communication in brain networks. E. Amico, K. Abbas, D. Duong-Tran, U. Tipnis, M. Rajapandian, E. Chumin, M. Ventresca, J. Harezlak, J. Goñi. Network Neuroscience, 2021.

Exploring MEG brain fingerprints: Evaluation, pitfalls, and interpretations. E. Sareen, S. Zahar, D. Van de Ville , A. Gupta, A. Griffa, E. Amico. NeuroImage, 2021. Download the code here. 

Clinical connectome fingerprints of cognitive decline. P. Sorrentino, R. Rucco, A. Lardone, M. Liparoti, E. Troisi Lopez, C. Cavaliere, A. Soricelli, V. Jirsa, G. Sorrentino, E. Amico. NeuroImage, 2021. Download the code here. EPFL news coverage here.

 

Affiliations

Collaborators

  • Prof Joaquín Goñi, CONNplexity Lab, Purdue University
  • Prof. Daniele Marinazzo, Ghent University
  • Prof. Steven Laureys, Coma Science Group, University of Liège 
  • Dr. Federico Battiston, Central European University
  • Dr. Carol Di Perri, University of Southampton
  • Dr. Athena Demertzi, University of Liège
  • Prof. Dante Mantini, KU Leuven and San Camillo Hospital, Venice
  • Prof Dimitri Van DeVille, MIP:LAB, EPFL and University of Geneva
  • Dr. Kepa Paz-Alonso, Basque Center for Brain and Language
  • Prof. Olaf Sporns, Indiana University
  • Prof. David Kareken, Alcohol Research Center, Indiana University School of Medicine
  • Prof. Alex Arenas, Universitat Rovira i Virgili
  • Prof. Jan Ramaekers, Maastricht University 
  • Dr. Giovanni Petri, ISI Foundation
  • Dr. Valentina Garibotto and Dr. Sara Stampacchia, Geneva University Hospital
  • Dr. Pierpaolo Sorrentino, Aix-Marseille University

Fundings