Meichen Yu, PhD

Dr. Yu’s research expertise is in the areas of multimodal neuroimaging (MRI and EEG/MEG) and brain network (or connectome) analyses in dementia and mood disorders. Dr. Yu’s current research focuses on the identification of genetic architecture of brain structural and functional networks in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) and multilayer brain structure-function connectome changes AD. Specifically, Dr. Yu is interested in identifying associations between the human connectome (measured by functional and diffusion MRI), amyloid-β and tau pathologies (measured by PET imaging data), blood-based microarray RNA gene expression profiles (transcriptome), DNA variations (genome), neurotransmitter receptor density maps (derived from PET), and cognitive decline, as well as neuropsychiatric syndromes in AD. 

From 2017 to 2019, Dr. Yu worked as a Postdoc Fellow in Computational Neuroscience/Psychiatry for the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. There he conducted studies in functional and structural network analysis in patients with depression and anxiety symptoms. In 2017,  Dr. Yu obtained his PhD in Computational Neuroscience from the Department of Neurophysiology & Alzheimer Center, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. During his doctoral studies, his research included: EEG/MEG network analysis in Alzheimer’s Disease and frontotemporal dementia, developing novel connectivity and network metrics and neural network modeling in neurological disorders. Dr. Yu earned his Master’s (2013) and Bachelor’s (2010) degrees in Theoretical Physics from China.

Learn more about Dr. Yu's research at his lab website (AD Connectome Lab).

Understanding spreading patterns of Alzheimer's

Books/Chapters

1. Tharp M, Risacher SL, Bice P, Thompson PM, Saykin AJ, Yu M¹. Emerging approaches to statistics and artificial intelligence in neuroimaging. The SAGE Handbook of Cognitive and Systems Neuroscience 2022; Chapter 44, Volume 1.
2. Yu M¹. Network analysis of EEG and MEG in dementia: novel approaches. ISBN: 978-94-6332-180-8, June 12, 2017; Printed by: Proefschrift, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Journal Articles

1. Chai Y, Shokri-Kojori E, Saykin AJ, Yu M¹. Sleep and Depression in Alzheimer's Disease. Nat Mental Health (Invited Review) 2024.
2. Nho K, Risacher SL, …, Yu M, …, Saykin AJ. Novel CYP1B1-RMDN2 Alzheimer's disease locus identified by genome-wide association analysis of cerebral tau deposition on PET. Nat Commun 2024; PMID: 36993271; PMCID: PMC10055458.
3. Xie L, Raj T, Varathan P, He B, Yu M, Nho K, Salama P, Saykin AJ, Yan J. Deep Trans-Omic Network Fusion for Molecular Mechanism of Alzheimer’s Disease. J Alzheimer's Dis 2024; 99(2): 715-727.
4. Yu M¹, Risacher SL, Nho KT, Wen Q, Oblak AL, Unverzagt FW, Apostolova LG, Farlow MR, Brosch JR, Clark DG, Wang S, Deardorff R, Wu Y, Gao S, Sporns O, Saykin AJ¹, for the ADNI; Spatial transcriptomic patterns underlying amyloid-β and tau pathology are associated with cognitive dysfunction in Alzheimer’s disease. Cell Rep 2024; 43(2): 113691. 
5. Chai Y, Gehrman P¹, Yu M¹, Mao T, Deng Y, Rao J, Shi H, Quan P, Xu J, Zhang X, Lei H, Fang Z, Xu S, Boland E, Goldschmied J, Barilla H, Goel N, Basner M, Thase M, Sheline YI, Dinges DF, Detre J, Zhang X, Rao H¹. Enhanced amygdala-cingulate connectivity associates with better mood in both healthy and depressive individuals after sleep deprivation. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2023; 120(26): e2214505120. 
6. Chai Y, Sheline YI, Oathes DJ, Balderston NL, Rao H, Yu M¹. Functional connectomics in depression: insights into therapies. Trends Cogn Sci 2023; 27(9): 814-832.
7. Hu F, Chen AA, Horng H, Bashyam V, Davatzikos C, Alexander-Bloch A, Satterthwaite TD, Li M, Shou H, Yu M¹, Shinohara RT¹. Image harmonization: a review of statistical and deep-learning techniques for removing batch effects and evaluation approachs for validating effective harmonization. Neuroimage 2023; 274: 120125.
8. Zhang X, Wang X, Dong D, Sun X, Zhong X, Xiong G, Cheng C, Lei H, Chai Y, Yu M, Quan P, Gehrman PR, Kim JJ, Detre JA, Yao S, Rao H¹. Persistent ventral anterior cingulate cortex and resolved amygdala hyper-responses to negative outcomes after depression remission: a combined cross-sectional and longitudinal study. Biological Psychiatry 2022; 93: 268-278.
9. Chai Y, Chimelis-Santiago JR, Bixler KA, Aalsma M, Yu M¹, Hulvershorn L¹. Sex-specific frontal-striatal connectivity differences among adolescents with externalizing disorders. NeuroImage Clin 2021; 32: 102789.
10. Yu M, Sporns O, Saykin AJ¹. The human connectome in Alzheimer disease –– relationship to biomarkers and genetics. Nature Reviews Neurology 2021; 17: 545–563 (Cover Article).
11. Yu M, Cullen NC, Linn KA, Oathes DJ, Seok D, Cook PA, Duprat R, Aselcioglu I, Moore TM, Davatzikos C, Oquendo MA, Weissman MM, Shinohara RT, Sheline YI¹. Structural brain measures linked to clinical phenotypes in major depression replicate across clinical centres. Molecular psychiatry 2021; 26: 2764–2775.
12. Yu M¹. Benchmarking metrics for inferring functional connectivity from multi-channel EEG and MEG: a simulation study. Chaos 2020; 30: 123124.
13. Chai Y, Fang Z, Yang FN, Xu S, Deng Y, Raine A, Wang J, Yu M, Basner M, Goel N, Kim JJ, Wolk DA, Detre JA, Dinges DF, Rao H¹. Two nights of recovery sleep restores hippocampal connectivity but not episodic memory after total sleep deprivation. Sci Rep 2020; 10: 8774.
14. Sheline YI¹ and Yu M¹. Linking antidepressant performance with pain network connectivity. Lancet Psychiatry 2019; 6(8): 635–636.
15. Yu M, Linn KA, Shinohara RT, Oathes DJ, Cook PA, Duprat R, Moore TM, Oquendo MA, Phillips ML, McInnis M, Fava M, Trivedi MH, McGrath PJ, Parsey R, Weissman MM, Sheline YI¹. Childhood trauma history is linked to brain connectivity abnormalities in major depression. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2019; 116 (17): 8582–8590.
16. Yu M, Linn KA, Cook PA, Phillips ML, McInnis M, Fava M, Trivedi MH, Weissman MM, Shinohara RT, Sheline YI¹. Statistical harmonization corrects site effects in functional connectivity measurements from multi-site fMRI data. Hum Brain Mapp 2018; 39: 4213–4227.
17. Yu M¹, Hillebrand A, Gouw AA, Stam CJ. Horizontal visibility graph transfer entropy (HVG-TE): A novel metric to characterize directed connectivity in large-scale brain networks. NeuroImage 2017; 156: 249–264.
18. Engels MMA¹*, Yu M*, Stam CJ, Gouw AA, van der Flier WM, Scheltens P, van Straaten EC, Hillebrand A. Direction of information flow is disrupted in Alzheimer’s disease. A beamformer-based resting-state MEG study. NeuroImage Clin 2017; 15: 673–681.
19. Yu M¹, Engels MMA, Hillebrand A, van Straaten EC, Gouw AA, Teunissen C, van der Flier WM, Scheltens P, Stam CJ. Selective impairment of hippocampus and posterior hub areas in Alzheimer’s disease: An MEG-based multiplex network study. Brain 2017; 140 (5): 1466–1485 (Cover Article).
20. Hillebrand A¹, Tewarie P, van Dellen E, Yu M, Carbo EW, Douw L, Gouw AA, van Straaten EC, Stam CJ. Direction of information flow in large-scale resting-state networks is frequency-dependent. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2016; 113(14): 3867–72.
21. Yu M¹, Gouw AA, Hillebrand A, Tijms BM, Stam CJ, van Straaten EC, Pijnenburg YA. Different functional connectivity and network topology in behavioral variant of frontotemporal dementia and Alzheimer's disease: an EEG study. Neurobiol Aging 2016; 42: 150–62.
22. Yu M¹, Hillebrand A, Tewarie P, Meier J, van Dijk B, Van Mieghem P, Stam CJ. Hierarchical clustering in minimum spanning trees. Chaos 2015; 25(2): 023107.
23. Li J, Yu L, Yu M, Chen Y¹. Zero-lag synchronization in spatiotemporal chaotic systems with long range delay couplings. Chin Phys Lett 2012; 29(5): 050501.

*These authors contributed equally.
¹Corresponding/Senior/Co-Senior author