July 7th, 2025
New paper alert!

We are pleased to share that our new paper, titled:
“Cerebellar Brain Inhibition and Its Association with Motor Inhibition and Reaction Time in Younger and Older Adults”, has been published in ‘The Cerebellum’.
We used dual-site TMS to examine resting cerebellar-brain inhibition (CBI) and its link to motor performance across age groups.

While older adults showed slower reaction times and reduced response inhibition, we found no age-related differences in resting CBI, nor associations between CBI and motor outcomes.
These findings suggest that resting-state CBI may not reflect functional cerebellar contributions to motor decline.

Read the full article here: https://rdcu.be/euSXG

July 7th, 2025
New paper published in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience

It is with great excitement that we announce the publication of our latest paper, “GABA, Glx, and GSH in the cerebellum: their role in motor performance and learning across age groups” in Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience!

This project allowed us to explore the subtle neurochemical landscape of the aging cerebellum. While our results suggest that GABA, Glx, and GSH levels might not be the primary drivers of age-related motor performance differences, they reinforce the idea that neurobiological aging is multi-faceted, with structural and connectivity changes potentially playing a more significant role in this region.

You can read the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/eHWKuAvz

March 24th, 2025
New publication in Neurobiology of Aging on age-related alterations in cerebellar brain inhibition
Excited to share that our latest study titled “Age-related differences in task-related modulation of cerebellar brain inhibition” was recently published in Neurobiology of Aging.

While aging is often associated with declines in cerebellar function, we found that resting-state CBI and the task-related release of CBI were maintained in older adults, challenging previous assumptions of reduced inhibitory function in older individuals. Yet, the modulation of CBI influenced short-term motor learning differently for both age groups, suggesting a potential functional reorganisation of the cerebellar neural system.

Check out the full paper here: https://lnkd.in/escJ2-GB



February 6th, 2025
New publication in Human Brain Mapping on the role of neurometablites in motor learning
We are excited to share our latest study, “The Reciprocal Relationship Between Short- and Long-Term Motor Learning and Neurometabolites,” now published in Human Brain Mapping. Using magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), we investigated how inhibitory (GABA) and excitatory (Glx) neurometabolites contribute to motor learning over time. Our findings highlight how baseline metabolite levels and modulation predict learning success, and how training-induced changes differ across brain regions.

Check out the full open access paper here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/hbm.70170

February 6th/7th, 2025
BRAINS-lab at MaRBEL Conference 2025 (Liège)
Numerous members of BRAINS-lab attended the MaRBEL conference and pre-conference courses, where the latest advancements in Belgian MR research were presented and discussed. It was a great opportunity to exchange knowledge and connect with fellow researchers in the field.

We are proud to highlight Robin’s oral presentation and Svitlana’s data blitz presentation, as well as the impressive poster contributions from Sara, Shanti, Maud, Robin, Svitlana, and Katrien, along with our UHasselt colleagues Dries and Joana. Well done to all for sharing their exciting research!

A big thank you to ULiège for organizing such a well-structured and engaging event. The conference was hosted in the stunning Salle Académique, a truly inspiring venue that added to the atmosphere of scientific exchange and collaboration.

Looking forward to the next edition!

January 17th, 2025
BRAINS-lab at ISMRM BeNeLux in Hilversum, NL
The new year started off well at the ISMRM BeNeLux in Hilversum, an annual conference where MRI scientists share their knowledge and findings in the field of advanced MRI. Our dra. Maud Beeckmans presented her brand-new diffusion results during one of the poster sessions. Additionally, Dr. Melina Hehl and dra. Robin Heemels attended to gather new ideas, stay up to date with the state-of-the-art of MRI, and further implement it in the BRAINS-lab!

October 18th, 2024
First PhD graduate from BRAINS-lab: Melina defends PhD on “The neural correlates of bimanual motor learning“
We are excited to announce that Melina has successfully defended her PhD titled “The neural correlates of bimanual motor learning: neurometabolites, synaptic density, and effective premotor-motor connectivity”, supervised by Professors Koen Cuypers, Stephan Swinnen, and Raf Meesen. This marks a significant milestone as the first PhD completion from the BRAINS-lab. Her research, conducted over the past four years, has provided valuable insights into the neural mechanisms underlying motor learning.

Before her defense, external jury member Prof. Charlotte Stagg also gave a Meet the Jury lecture, sharing recent research findings of her group and interesting on “Multimodal Approaches to Studying Human Movement“. This provided an excellent opportunity to interact with one of the top experts in this field.

July 3rd, 2024
Publication alert: Dual-site TMS
Our former Master’s students, Robin Heemels and Sian Ademi, can be proud: they have published their thesis work, along with their co-supervisor Melina, in Clinical Neurophysiology. This study explores the effective connectivity between the dorsal premotor cortex and primary motor cortex using dual-site TMS. We optimized the protocol and investigated the 24h test-retest reliability, highlighting the effectiveness and reliability of this dual-site TMS setup. Curious? Access the article through this link. For open access until August 20th, 2024, click here.

February 10th, 2024
First Belgian MR Research Community (BMRC) Meeting in Hasselt! Next year MaRBEL!
Our BRAINS-lab team attended the Belgian MR Research Community (BMRC) kick-off event hosted at Oude Gevangenis UHasselt. Besides tons of networking, there was a great 7T keynote by Gilbert Hangel and workshops by researchers from VUB, UGent, University of Liège, KU Leuven and UHasselt (MRS talk given by Melina and Koen). Jitske, Maud and Koen did an amazing job in organising this event together with colleagues from UGent, UAntwerp and KU Leuven. Melina won the ‘Future name contest’: We are already looking forward to MaRBEL 2025!

January 25th, 2024
Snowy Escapade: BRAINS-lab Bonding
Last weekend, the seven members of BRAINS-lab took a break for a team-building getaway in the snowy Ardennes. It was a cozy retreat filled with good food, fun, and games, set against the backdrop of a beautiful winter wonderland.