Jlenia Toppi
Jlenia Toppi received her Bachelor Degree in Clinical Engineering (summa cum laude) in 2006 and her Master Degree in Biomedical Engineering (summa con laude) in 2009, both from University of Rome “Sapienza”. In 2013, she received her PhD in Biomedical Engineering (with honors) from University of Bologna “Alma Mater Studiorum”. She is associate professor at the Department of Computer, Control and Management Engineering, Sapienza University of Rome. Since 2010 she carries on research activity on healthy and pathological individuals at Neuroelectrical Imaging and Brain Computer Interface Laboratory, IRCCS Fondazione Santa Lucia, Rome (Italy). She participated in several national and international research projects, funded by the Italian Ministry of Education, 7th Framework Program and Horizon 2020 of the European Commission. She is Editor of the Computation and Mathematical Methods in Medicine. She serves as reviewer for several peer-review journals. Her research interests include the development and implementation of new approaches for biomedical signal processing, with a special focus on neuroelectrical data (Electroencephalography, EEG) with the aim to reconstruct the brain circuits at the basis of cognitive processes and social cognition. Her expertise is in the field of signal processing, mathematical modeling of biological systems, EEG, neuroelectrical imaging, connectivity estimation, hyperscanning, statistical assessment and graph theory.
Dr. Toppi’s research interests include the development and implementation of new approaches for high resolution EEG signal processing, with a special focus on brain mapping and brain connectivity in healthy and pathological individuals.
1. Brain mapping
She contributed to the development of the following methodologies: i) adaptation of the current algorithms for the analysis of event-related potentials in healthy subjects to the non-idealities of data from patients with disorders of consciousness (Risetti et al., Front Hum Neurosci, 2013 – Toppi et al., Neurorehab and Neural Repair, 2019) and ii) source localization approaches aiming at increasing the low spatial resolution of EEG technique and thus identifying brain areas acting as sources in the recorded neuroelectrical activity. Such methods have been then applied to healthy subject with the aim to investigate brain activities associated to imagination (Toppi et al., JNE, 2014) to face perception (Vecchiato et al., Comp Math Meth Med, 2014) and to economic decision making (Vecchiato et al., J. Neurosci Meth, 2010, Vecchiato et al., Med Biol Eng Comp, 2011).
2. Brain connectivity
She focused on the development of methodologies for stationary and time-varying connectivity estimation and their related statistical assessment against chance (Toppi et al., IEEE Trans Biom Eng, 2016, Toppi et al., Comp Mat Met Med, 2012). Such approaches have been used to reconstruct the brain circuits at the basis of resting brain (Petti et al., CIN, 2016) as well as during active cognitive processes (Toppi et al., Front Hum Neurosci, 2018, Toppi et al., Neuroimage, 2016). In social neuroscience field, within Prof. Astolfi’s group, she was pioneer in the analysis of brain to brain connectivity estimated from hyperscanning EEG acquired (simultaneously) from interacting subjects (Ciaramidaro, Toppi, Sci Rep, 2018, Toppi, PlosOne, 2016, Astolfi et al., IEEE Int Sys, 2011, Astolfi et al., Brain Top, 2010).
Moreover, in the context of CONTRAST project, she employed graph theory indices for quantifying brain networks measures and thus extracting indices to be used as outcome measures in cognitive/motor rehabilitation treatments based on Brain Computer Interface after stroke (Pichiorri et a., Ann of Neu, 2015).
- Open Finalist at the Student Paper Competition of 34th Annual International Conference of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society, San Diego (USA), Aug. 28 – Sept. 1, 2012, with the work “Describing Relevant Indices from the Resting State Electrophysiological Networks”.
- Young Paper Award at Terzo Congresso Nazionale di Bioingegneria, Rome (Italy), June 26-29, 2012, with the work “Assessing Functional Connectivity Patterns by Asymptotic Distribution of Partial Directed Coherence”.
- Second Best Poster with the title “The issue of multiple comparison corrections in a study of high resolution EEG” at 8th Edition of the International Summer School on Biomedical Signal Processing of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (IEEE-EMBS), Jun 26 – July 03, 2011, Certosa di Pontignano, Siena, Italy.
- Standard Member of IEEE - Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society
- Foundator Member of Gruppo Nazionale di Bioingegneria
- Junior Member of the Technical Committee of Biomedical Signal Processing of the IEEE EMBS