Silvia Elisabetta Portis Bruzzone

Scientific interests

I am a neuroscientist with a multidisciplinary background spanning mood disorders research, (epi)genomic biomarkers and neuroimaging.

One of my main goals is to advance the field of women’s mental health by identifying genomic mechanisms underlying depression in women. I am currently trying to understand why some women but not others experience postpartum depression, with the aim to develop blood-based biomarkers that could one day improve diagnosis and treatment of this condition.

Biography

Publications

• Frokjaer V.G., Bruzzone S.E.P. Psychoneuroendocrinology: hormones and mood. Chapter “Sex hormone-shift sensitivity and depression listening to the female brain-body biology”. Scientia Danica. (2026). (in press)

• Bruzzone, S.E.P., van den Oord, E. J. C. G., Aberg, K., van der Wee, N., Penninx, B. W. J. H., Frokjaer, V. G., Jansen, R. DNA methylation of serotonin-related genes in depression and depression chronicity: a large-scale replication study. (under revision)

• Andersen, M.T., Nielsen K.G., Bruzzone S.E.P., Ip C.T., Jørgensen M.B., Jensen K.H.R. Genetic, epigenetic, and electrophysiological markers of serotonergic function and SSRI-related nausea. Journal of affective disorders 406, 121673. (2026) doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2026.121673

• Carlomagno, F., Bruzzone S.E.P., Bonetti, L., Brattico, E. How To Keep a Brain Plastic with Music: A Mini-Review of Neurophysiological Findings on Music and Ageing. Ageing International 50 (4), 1-13. (2025).

• Bruzzone, S.E.P.*, Garre, V. F. S.*, Høgh, S., Frokjaer, V. G., O’Donnell K. J., Eid, R. S. A scoping review of functional genomics in perinatal depression. Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology, 101202 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.yfrne.2025.101202.
• Bruzzone, S.E.P., Ozenne, B., Fisher, P.M., Ortega, G., Knudsen, G.M., Lesch, K.P., Frokjaer, V.G. DNA methylation of serotonin genes as predictive biomarkers of antidepressant treatment response. Progress in Neuropsychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry, 111160 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2024.111160.

• Høgh, S., Borgsted, C., Hegaard, H. K., Renault, K. M., Ekelund, K., Bruzzone, S. E. P., Clemmensen, C., Klein, A. B. & Frokjaer, V. G. Growth Differentiation Factor 15 during pregnancy and postpartum as captured in blood, cerebrospinal fluid and placenta: a cohort study on associations with maternal mental health. Psychoneuroendocrinology. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2024.107212.

• Bruzzone, S.E.P., Ozenne, B., Fisher, P.M., Ortega, G., Jensen, P.S., Dam, V.H., Svarer, C., Knudsen, G.M., Lesch, K.P., Frokjaer, V.G. No association between peripheral serotonin-gene-related DNA methylation and brain serotonin neurotransmission in the healthy and depressed state. Clinical epigenetics, 16(1), 71 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13148-024-01678-y.

• Bruzzone S.E.P., Nasser, A., Aripaka S.S., Spies M., Ozenne B, Jensen P. S., Knudsen G. M., Frokjaer V. G., Fisher P. M. Genetic contributions to brain serotonin transporter levels in healthy adults. Scientific Reports 13, 16426 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-43690-x.

• Bonetti L, Bruzzone S.E.P., Paunio T, Kantojärvi K, Kliuchko M, Vuust P, Palva S, Brattico E. Moderate associations between BDNF Val66Met gene polymorphism, musical expertise, and mismatch negativity. 2023 Apr 18;9(5):e15600. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e15600.

• Jensen K. H. R.*, McCulloch D.E.*, Olsen A. S.*, Bruzzone S.E.P., Larsen S. V., Fisher P. M., Frokjaer V. G. (2022). Effects of an Oral Contraceptive on Dynamic Brain States and Network Modularity in a Serial Single-Subject Study. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 917. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2022.855582.

• Bruzzone S.E.P., Lumaca, M., Brattico, E., Vuust P., Kringelbach M., Bonetti L. Dissociated brain functional connectivity of fast versus slow frequencies underlying individual differences in fluid intelligence: a DTI and MEG study. Scientific Reports 12, 4746 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-08521-5.

• Bruzzone S.E.P., Haumann N. T., Kliuchko M., Vuust P., Brattico E. (2021). Applying SCA for high-accuracy auditory cortical ERPs in children. Clinical Neurophysiology, doi.org/10.1016/j.clinph.2021.05.007.

• Bonetti L., Bruzzone S.E.P., Sedghi N.A., Haumann N.T., Paunio T., Kantojärvi K., Kliuchko M., Vuust P., Brattico. (2021). Brain predictive coding processes are associated to COMT gene Val158Met polymorphism. NeuroImage. https://doi.org/10.1016/2021.1117954.

Awards

• 2025 -000 DKK, Postdoc Fellowship from Region Hovedstaden’s Research Fund. “Promoting women's mental health by identifying markers of hormone- sensitive depression” (main applicant).
• 2025 - 200.000 DKK (~175.000 USD), Læge Sofus Carl Emil Friis og Hustru Olga Doris Friis' Legat. “Promoting women's mental health by identifying markers of hormone- sensitive depression” (co-applicant).

• 2024 - 000 DKK (~8.600 USD), Ivan Nielsens Fond. “Fostering women's mental health by identifying markers of estrogen sensitivity to depressive episodes” (main applicant).

• 2022 - 000 DKK (~11.000 USD), Ivan Nielsens Fond. Project “Brain signatures of gene by environment interaction: implications for optimizing treatment choice in depression” (main applicant).

• 2022 - 000 DKK (~41.500 USD), Læge Sofus Carl Emil Friis og Hustru Olga Doris Friis' Legat. “Characterizing the serotonergic architecture to predict antidepressant treatment outcome and vulnerability to depression” (co-applicant).

• 2023 - 000 DKK (~1.400 USD), Rigshospitalet Jubilæumsfond, travel grant to attend 20th International Meeting of the International Serotonin Society in Cancun, Mexico (main applicant).

• 2022 - 012 DKK (~1.100 USD), Rigshospitalet Jubilæumsfond, travel grant to attend the 35th ECNP Congress, Vienna, Austria (main applicant).

• 2020 -000 £ (~19.600 USD), SEMPRE 50th Anniversary Research and Development Awards. Project: “Fighting dementia with music: the search for a biomarker of ageing-dependent functional neuroplasticity for musical memory” (co-applicant).