Fahimeh Akbarian

Fahimeh Akbarian is a Researcher at Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), affiliated with the Department of Electronics and Informatics within the Faculty of Engineering. Her work bridges clinical neurology and engineering through advanced neuroimaging techniques. She holds a PhD from the Faculty of Engineering and conducts research at UZB (University Hospital Brussels), focusing on neurological disorders.

Research Interests:

• Non-invasive brain dynamics analysis using EEG/MEG
• Cognitive deficits in Multiple Sclerosis (MS)
• Excitation/inhibition imbalance as a biomarker
• Task-related neural network dynamics
• Development of quantitative biomarkers for neurological diseases

Recent work trends emphasize the role of aperiodic brain activity (1/f slope) in detecting cognitive impairments in MS patients. Her studies use data-driven approaches to map neural networks during working memory tasks, revealing impaired prefrontal dynamics and disrupted inhibition mechanisms.

Scientific Achievements:

• Received Merit Abstract Award at 2023 OHBM Annual Meeting
• Recipient of BIOMAG 2022 travel grant

Advising & Grants: Co-advised a master's thesis on tumor-related epilepsy biomarkers. Active in interdisciplinary collaborations between engineering and neurology departments.

Labs/Teams: Engaged in neuroimaging and neurophysiology research groups, particularly those focusing on MS and cognitive neuroscience.