Principles and methods in the analysis of brain networks. (English) Zbl 1093.92028

Sporns, Olaf

Reeke, G. N. (ed.) et al., Modeling in the neurosciences. From biological systems to neuromimetic robotics. Boca Raton, FL: Taylor & Francis (ISBN 0-415-32868-3/hbk). 599-611 (2005).

Introduction: Throughout the history of neuroscience, there has been intensive philosophical and theoretical discussion over whether brain function should be conceptualized as being predominantly localized or distributed. In modern cognitive neuroscience, the problem of localization of brain function has remained a central issue in terms of methodology and brain mapping. In recent years, the debate over localization of function in the brain has been transformed, with simplistic notions of modularity or holism giving way to a new view of the brain as a complex network, whose global functional properties are determined by the structure and dynamics of its constituent neuronal systems, especially those of the cerebral cortex and associated thalamocortical circuits. More than a decade of functional neuroimaging has provided overwhelming evidence that virtually all states of human perception and cognition are accompanied by widespread neural activation patterns within the corticothalamic system. The duality of localized and distributed aspects of brain function is naturally encompassed by a network perspective.
The advent of sophisticated methods for the structural and functional analysis of brain states demands the development of quantitative methods capable of capturing and untangling network aspects of brain function. In this chapter, several fundamental principles of brain networks are reviewed and quantitative methods for the analysis of these networks are explored.
For the entire collection see [Zbl 1107.92301].

MSC:

92C20	Neural biology
91E30	Psychophysics and psychophysiology; perception

Keywords:

anatomical connectivity; functional connectivity; effective connectivity