Dr. Ingrid Buller-Peralta

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Biography

Background

As part of the CCBS and the Edinburgh Dementia Prevention team, my current work focuses on the evaluation of dementia risk and brain health factors in cognitively healthy individuals from national and international studies, using state of the art epidemiological and statistical methods. Derivation of comprehensive scoring algorithms and the modulation of allostatic load by life stressors, healthy habits, resilience, and sleep quality summarize my recent research approaches. In the short-term, I expect to expand my sleep research experience now on clinical human data, to collaborate in the efforts to unlock the role of sleep disturbances in dementia development and healthy aging.  

https://www.research.ed.ac.uk/en/persons/ingrid-buller-peralta 

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4427-9897

Qualifications

PhD Biomedical Sciences (distinction). Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile. Santiago, Chile (2012 – 2017).

MSc in Neuroscience (Distinction). Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile. Santiago, Chile (2010 – 2014).

Bachelor's Degree in Psychology (Hons). Universidad de las Américas, Santiago, Chile (2003 – 2008).

Responsibilities & affiliations

2023 – to date: ERC advisory board member. Circadian Mental Health Network. https://www.circadianmentalhealth.org

2024 – to date: Member of the Sleep and Circadian Rhythms Professional Interest Areas (PIAs). Alzheimer’s Association International Society to Advance Alzheimer’s Research and Treatment (ISTAART). https://istaart.alz.org/groups/home/70

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Areas of interest for supervision

  • Neuroscience
  • Sleep and Circadian Rhythms
  • Neurophychology
  •  Epidemiology and Statistics
  • Dementia and Alzheimer's Dementia.

Research summary

Sleep is an extremely sensitive biomarker to physiological changes, such as those occurred after learning acquisition, but most importantly, to functional alterations due to neurological disorders. Alzheimer’s dementia, major depressive disorder, Parkinson’s disease, post-traumatic stress disorder, memory consolidation, neurodevelopmental disorders, multiple sclerosis, spring season, normal aging, kidney disease and epilepsy, are just a few of the biomedical topics where sleep is affected but, more importantly, where its alteration plays a key role in the development of the most diverse pathologies. Thus, as scientist, my aims are to promote sleep research as fundamental topic within any biomedical area, to develop new approaches and improve current methods for its study, to promote the importance of sleep hygiene and the early detection of its alterations, and to raise awareness of its relevance in the following generations of scientists.

Current research interests

Neuroscience, Sleep and Circadian Rhythms, Neurophychology, Electrophysiology, Neurodegeneration, Epidemiology, Statistics, Alzheimer's Dementia.

Past research interests

During Msc and PhD studies in the Sleep and Chronobiology Laboratory (Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile) I focused on sleep research in rodent models, related to learning and psychiatric conditions. Later, on my first postdoctoral position in the Centre for Discovery Brain Sciences (CDBS, University of Edinburgh) I studied sleep and circadian disturbances, and their relationship with epilepsy in rodent models of autism, developing new analysis techniques and procedures for electrophysiological assessments in rats.

Invited speaker

SIDB 4th Annual (virtual) Research Retreat 2020. Title: Sleep-Wake cycle disturbances in SYNGAP1 haploinsufficiency rat models of autism and intellectual disability. (26th August, 2020).

23rd congress of the European Sleep Research Society (Bologna, Italy). Title: Fear extinction in an animal model of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The role of Dopamine and REM sleep. (14th September, 2016). Awarded with ESRS travel grant.

23rd congress of the European Sleep Research Society (Bologna, Italy). Title: Structure of REM sleep in an animal model of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (15th September, 2016).

Participant

GSA 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting (Tampa, USA. 08 – 12 November, 2023) Buller-Peralta, I., Gregory, S., Wells, K., Ntailianis, G., O’Brien, J., Ritchie, C.,  Muniz-Terrera, G. A comprehensive composite for Allostatic Load scoring and risk categorization for predictive comparisons.

FENS Forum 2022 (Paris, France. 09 - 13 July, 2022) Buller-Peralta, I., Hristova, K., Bassi, A., Fasol, M., Till, S., Ocampo-Garces, A., Kind, P.C & Gonzalez-Sulser Absence-seizure blockade rescues REM sleep impairment in a rat model of SYNGAP1 haploinsufficiency.

BSS Virtual Sleep 2021 Conference - British Sleep Society (virtual). (04 - 06 November, 2021) Buller-Peralta, I., Hristova, K., Bassi, A., Till, S., Ocampo-Garces, A., Kind, P.C & Gonzalez-Sulser REM sleep impairment is reverted by absence-seizure treatment in a SYNGAP1 haploinsufficiency rat model of autism and intellectual disability.

ILAE British Branch Virtual Annual Scientific Conference (virtual). (23 - 24 September, 2021) Buller, I., Hristova, K., Bassi, A., Ocampo-Garces, A., Kind, P.C & Gonzalez-Sulser Absence-like seizure treatment rescues REM sleep deficits in a SYNGAP1 haploinsufficiency rat models of autism and intellectual disability.

SIDB 3rd Annual Research Retreat. (Edinburgh, UK. 12 - 13 September, 2019) Buller, I., Till, S.M., Katsanevaki, D., Jones, M.W., Wood, E.R., Gonzalez-Sulser, A. & Kind, P.C EEG disturbances in the SYNGAP1 haploinsufficiency rat model of Autism and Intellectual Disability.

23rd congress of the European Sleep Research Society. (Bologna, Italy. 13 - 16 September, 2016) Buller, I., Valdés-Guerrero, J.L. & Ocampo-Garcés, A. Fear extinction in an animal model of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: The role of Dopamine and REM sleep.

23rd congress of the European Sleep Research Society. (Bologna, Italy. 13 - 16 September, 2016). Buller, I., Ocampo-Garcés, A., Valdés-Guerrero, J.L., Diaz, J. & Bassi, A. Structure of REM sleep in an animal model of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

Genes, Brain and Behavior: Novel Concepts and Methods for the Exploration of the Nervous System. (Universidad de Chile & David Rockefeller Centre for Latin American Studies at Harvard University. Santiago, Chile. April 1st, 2016). Buller, I., Ocampo, A. & Valdés, J.L. Effects of the VTA Dopaminergic Activity during REM sleep in Preventing Development of PTSD.

21rd congress of the European Sleep Research Society. (Paris, France. 4 - 8 September, 2012). Buller, I., Aylwin, M. & Ocampo, A. Effects of active-avoidance task on REM sleep microstructure in the rat.

Papers delivered

Buller-Peralta, I., Diaz, J., Gonzalez, V.V., Bassi, A., Ocampo-Garces, A. & Valdes, J.L. Disinhibition of ventral tegmental area after trauma prevents Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. (submitted)

Buller-Peralta, I., Muniz-Terrera, G.,  Lillo, P., Riquelme, P., Demanet, M., Saguez, R., Damm, F., Salech, F., Gonzalez-Billault, C., Court, F., Thumala, D., Slachevsky, A. Derivation of an allostatic load index in the Chilean GERO study cohort reveals the need for specific clinical thresholds in older populations. (In review, submitted).

Gregory, Sarah; Buller-Peralta, Ingrid; Bridgeman, Katie; Góngora, Vanessa De La Cruz; Dounavi, M; Low, Audrey; Ntailianis, Georgios; O’Brien, John T; Parra, Mario A.; Ritchie, Craig W.; Ritchie, Karen; Shannon, Oliver M.; Stevenson, Emma J.; Muniz-Terrera, Graciela. The Mediterranean diet is not associated with neuroimaging or cognition in middle-aged adults: a cross-sectional analysis of the PREVENT Dementia Programme. European Journal of Neurology (In production) DOI: 10.1111/ene.16345

Buller-Peralta I, Gregory S, Low A, Dounavi ME, Bridgeman K, Ntailianis G, Lawlor B, Naci L, Koychev I, Malhotra P, O'Brien JT, Ritchie CW, Muniz-Terrera G. Comprehensive allostatic load risk index is associated with increased frontal and left parietal white matter hyperintensities in mid-life cognitively healthy adults. Sci Rep. 2024 Jan 5;14(1):573. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-49656-3

Buller-Peralta, I.*, Maicas-Royo, J*., Lu, Z.*, Till, S.M., Wood, E.R., Kind, P.C., Escudero, J. & Gonzalez-Sulser, A. Abnormal brain state distribution and network connectivity in a SYNGAP1 rat model. Brain Communications, fcac26, 2022. https://doi.org/10.1093/braincomms/fcac263

Katsanevaki, D., Till, S.M., Buller-Peralta, I., et al. Key roles of C2/GAP enzymatic domains in SYNGAP1 related pathophysiology. (In review, submitted), Preprint: bioRxiv 2020.10.14.339192 https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.10.14.339192

Buller, I. Evaluación neuropsicológica efectiva de la función ejecutiva. Propuesta de compilación de pruebas neuropsicológicas para la evaluación del funcionamiento ejecutivo. Cuadernos de Neuropsicología / Panamerican Journal of Neuropsychology. 4 (1): 63 – 86, 2010. Available at: http://www.cnps.cl/index.php/cnps/article/view/102

*= Co-authorship

Dr. Adrian Ocampo-Garces & Dr. Alejandro Bassi. Laboratorio de Sueño y Cronobiología, Programa de Fisiología y Biofísica, Instituto de Ciencias Biomédicas, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile.

Dr. Andrea Slachevsky.  Geroscience Centre for Brain Health and Metabolism (GERO) - Memory and Neuropsychiatric Center (CMYN) Neurology Department, Hospital del Salvador and Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile.

Dr. Javier Diaz. International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine, University of Tsukuba.

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