Research

Research on sleep and dreams has been my oldest neuroscience interest and a topic I currently focus on. 

Specifically, I'm interested in the heterogeneity of global states. Traditionally we have simplified the study of states such as sleep, anesthesia, and disorders of consciousness, by seeing them only as global events with uniform characteristics. However, they are heterogeneous, and a simple way to describe it is by thinking of the borderline of sleep when we are a bit tired or bored, on a train ride and we let ourselves drift between mind-wandering and light sleep. The borderline can be studied through the phenomenon of local sleep. 

Associated publications:

• Perez*, P., MANASOVA*, D., Hermann, B., Raimondo, F., Bekinschtein, T., Naccache, L., Arzi, A., Sitt, J. (2024) Content-State dimensions characterize different types of neural correlates of consciousness. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2024(1). [link]

• MANASOVA, D., Stankovski, T. (2023) Neural Cross-Frequency Coupling Functions in Sleep. Neuroscience, 523, 20-30. [link]

*co-first

Severely brain-injured patients may enter a spectrum of conditions collectively known as disorders of consciousness (DoC). This spectrum includes clinical categories such as unresponsive wakefulness syndrome (also known as a vegetative state) and minimally conscious state, where the behavioral assessment of consciousness can often be deceptive. The work I've done during my PhD focused on exploring new markers of the state of these patients either using a single or a combination of modalities. 

Associated publications and preprints:

• (preprint) MANASOVA, D., Belloli, L., ..., Sitt, J., D. Integrative Electrophysiology and Neuroimaging Approach in Assessing Disorders of Consciousness: A Multimodal Multicentric Machine Learning Study. [link]

• (preprint) MANASOVA, D., Sanz Perl, Y., Bruno, N. M., Valente, M., Naccache L., Raimondo, F., Sitt, J., D. Dynamics of EEG topographies across the spectrum of Disorders of Consciousness. [link] 

• Perez*, P., MANASOVA*, D., Hermann, B., Raimondo, F., Bekinschtein, T., Naccache, L., Arzi, A., Sitt, J. (2024) Content-State dimensions characterize different types of neural correlates of consciousness. Neuroscience of Consciousness, 2024(1). [link]

• Rohaut, B., Calligaris, C., Hermann, B., Perez, P., Faugeras, F., Raimondo, F., King, J-R., Engemann, D., Marois, C., Le Guennec, L., Di Meglio, L., Sangaré, A., Munoz Musat, E., Valente, M., Ben Salah, A., Demertzi, A., Belloli, L., MANASOVA, D., ..., FX., Sitt, JD., Naccache, L. (2024) Multimodal assessment improves neuroprognosis performance in clinically unresponsive brain-injured critical care patients. Nature Medicine 2024, 1–7. [link]

• Willacker, L., Raiser, T. M., Bassi, M., Bender, A., Comanducci, A., Rosanova, M., Sobel, N., Arzi, A., Belloli, L., Casarotto, S., Colombo, M., Derchi, C. C., Fló Rama, E., Grill, E., Hohl, M., Kuehlmeyer, K., MANASOVA, D., Rosenfelder, M. J., Valota, C., Sitt, J. D. (2022). PerBrain: a multimodal approach to personalized tracking of evolving state-of-consciousness in brain-injured patients: protocol of an international, multicentric, observational study. BMC Neurology, 22(1), 1–11. [link]

*co-first

Throughout my studies and work, I've gained experience in the acquisition and analysis of simultaneous EEG+fMRI, EEG+MEG, and analysis of uni-modalities EEG, aMRI, and fMRI, with some FDG PET, dMRI and fNIRS basics. This has defined how I think of research hypotheses and it has given me the freedom to address a given question with the best modality that can answer it. I love a good methodological advancement or a creative analysis, and I try to think carefully about what a given signal captures about brain physiology and cognition. 

Associated publications and preprints:

• (preprint) MANASOVA, D., Belloli, L., ..., Sitt, J., D. Integrative Electrophysiology and Neuroimaging Approach in Assessing Disorders of Consciousness: A Multimodal Multicentric Machine Learning Study. [link]

• Turker, B., MANASOVA, D., Beranger, B., Naccache, L., Sergent, C., Sitt, J. D. (2024) Distinct dynamic connectivity profiles promote enhanced conscious perception of auditory stimuli. Communications Biology 2024 7:1, 7(1), 1–9. [link]

• Tasserie, J., Uhrig, L., Sitt, J. D., MANASOVA, D., Dupont, M., Dehaene, S., Jarraya, B. (2022). Deep brain stimulation of the thalamus restores signatures of consciousness in a nonhuman primate model. Science Advances, 8(11), 5547. [link]

Interval timing perception - a MEG study 

During my master's degree, I worked on a study focused on the neural correlates of interval timing with Dr. Virginie van Wassenhove. The study built upon previous research where the beta oscillation power was shown to scale with the lengthening of interval timing production (Kononowicz et al., 2019). We conducted a MEG study to further investigate the mechanisms of this scaling. The project is ongoing. 

References:

• T. W. Kononowicz, C. Roger, V. van Wassenhove, Temporal Metacognition as the Decoding of Self-Generated Brain Dynamics, Cerebral Cortex, Volume 29, Issue 10, October 2019, Pages 4366–4380 [link]

Innovation in Higher STEM Education 

Long ago, in what seems now like a past life, I was a student researcher in higher STEM education. Throughout my studies, I volunteered for and coordinated the Educational Involvement Department of a European STEM student NGO (Board of European Students of Technology). We conducted surveys and organized symposia where students, together with faculty and industry representatives could discuss the current state of their curricula, design solutions, and advocate for changes on a European-wide level. 

Associated publications (equal contributions across all authors) :

• Antera, S., MANASOVA, D., Mihajlov, S. 2017. Professors’ Competences Through the Perspective of STEM Students. International Conference on Interactive Collaborative Learning “Teaching and Learning in a Digital World”, Budapest, Hungary [link]

• Bjelica, J., Duarte, M., MANASOVA, D. et al. 2016. Continuing Professional Development and Internships as Influential Factors in Developing Students. SEFI Annual Conference, Tampere, Finland [link]