Dr. Geert DE GROOF

e-mail

Telephone: (+32) 3 265 2796
Fax: (+32) 3 265 2774

Faculty of Pharmaceutical, Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences
Department of Biomedical Sciences

Address
Campus Drie Eiken, D.UC.118
Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk


RESEARCH TOPICS

The neural substrate for song behaviour in songbirds, the so called song control system (SCS), is thus far the best documented brain circuit to study neuroplasticity and adult neurogenesis. Not only the volume of the key song control nuclei change in size, but also the density of the connections between them changes as a function of seasonal and hormonal influences. Geert De Groof explores the potentials of in vivo Diffusion-Tensor MRI (DT-MRI or DTI) to visualize the distinct concentrated connections of the SCS in the starling (Sturnus vulgaris) brain. He uses the resulting Fractional Anisotropy (FA) maps (as a measure of axonal outgrow) to quantify seasonal changes in the connections between the SCN in starling brains.

Recent publications

• A 3-dimensional digital atlas of the ascending sensory and the descending motor systems in the pigeon brain.
  O. Güntürkün, M. Verhoye, G. De Groof , Van der Linden A.
  Brain Struct Funct. 2012 Feb 25.
• Microstructural changes observed with DKI in a transgenic Huntington rat model: evidence for abnormal neurodevelopment.
  I. Blockx, G. De Groof, M. Verhoye, J. Van Audekerke,K. Raber, D. Poot,J. Sijbers, AP Osmand, S. Von Hörsten, A. Van der Linden.
  Neuroimage. 2012 Jan 16;59(2):957-67.
• Own Song Selectivity in the Songbird Auditory Pathway: Suppression by Norepinephrine.
  C. Poirier, T. Boumans, M. Vellema, G. De Groof, T.D. Charlier, M. Verhoye, A. Van Der Linden, J. Balthazart
  PLoS One. 2011;6(5):e20131.
• Neural correlates of behavioural olfactory sensitivity changes seasonally in European starlings.
  G. De Groof, H. Gwinner,S. Steiger, B. Kempenaers, A. Van der Linden.
  PLoS One. 2010 Dec 15;5(12):e14337.
• Love Songs, Bird Brains and Diffusion Tensor Imaging.
  G. De Groof, A. Van der Linden.
  NMR Biomed. 2010;23(7), p. 873-83.

• Structural changes between seasons in the songbird auditory forebrain.
  G. De Groof, M. Verhoye, C. Poirier, A. Leemans, M. Eens, V. Darras, A. Van der Linden.
  J Neurosci, 29:43(2009), p. 13557-65.
• Seasonal rewiring of the songbird brain: an in vivo MRI study.
  G. De Groof, M. Verhoye, V. Van Meir, J. Balthazart, A. Van der Linden.
  Eur J Neurosci 28:12(2008), p. 2475–85.
• In vivo diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of brain subdivisions and vocal pathways in songbirds.
  G. De Groof, M. Verhoye, V. Van Meir, I. Tindemans, A. Leemans, A. Van der Linden.
  NeuroImage 29:3(2006), p. 754-63.
• Spatiotemporal properties of the BOLD response in the songbirds' auditory circuit during a variety of listening tasks.
  V. Van Meir, T. Boumans, G. De Groof, J. Van Audekerke, A. Smolders, P. Scheunders, J. Sijbers, M. Verhoye, J. Balthazart, A. Van der Linden.
  Neuroimage. 1;25:1242-1255 (2005)