Le lundi 14 avril 2025, Madame Ilenia PAPARELLA, titulaire d'un d’un diplôme de laurea magistrale in psicologia (Université de Trento - Italie) et d’un Certificat de formation à la recherche en sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques, présentera l'examen en vue de l'obtention du grade de Doctorat en sciences biomédicales et pharmaceutiques, sous la direction de Monsieur Pierre MAQUET et de Monsieur Gilles VANDEWALLE.

Cette épreuve consistera en la défense publique d'une thèse intitulée : «Assessment of GABA changes to predict better recovery after stroke». 

Le jury sera composé de :

Christophe PHILLIPS (Président), Julien LY (Secrétaire), Pierre MAQUET, Charlotte STAGG (John Radcliffe Hosp.), Yves VANDERMEEREN (UCLouvain), Gilles VANDEWALLE

Résumé de la thèse

Stroke remains one of the leading causes of death and chronic neurological disability worldwide, with many survivors experiencing persistent motor impairments. Despite advances in acute stroke care, the number of affected individuals continues to rise, and current rehabilitation therapies often yield limited efficacy. These challenges underscore the urgent need to better understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying post-stroke recovery to inform the development of more effective therapeutic interventions. Alterations in GABAergic neurotransmission are thought to play a pivotal role in the recovery process, but their precise contributions remain poorly understood. 

This thesis investigates the nature and significance of post-stroke GABAergic changes, leveraging advanced neuroimaging, modeling techniques, and motor assessments to elucidate their relationship with motor function recovery. We first address the methodological challenge of reliably measuring GABA in the human motor cortex and then, building on this methodological foundation, we investigate GABAergic changes in chronic and acute stroke patients. 

We provide novel insights into the role of GABAergic mechanisms in motor recovery after stroke, also discussing the limitations of current methods and avenues for future research. Our findings pave the way for innovative rehabilitation strategies targeting GABAergic mechanisms to enhance functional outcomes in stroke survivors.