Abstract - 27 March 2019
The brain is characterized by heterogeneous patterns of structural connections supporting unparalleled feats of cognition and a wide range of behaviours. New non-invasive imaging techniques now allow comprehensive mapping of these patterns. However, a fundamental challenge remains to understand how the brain’s structural wiring supports cognitive processes, with major implications for personalized mental health treatments. Here, we review recent efforts to meet this challenge, drawing on physics intuitions, models and theories, spanning the domains of statistical mechanics, information theory, dynamical systems and control. We first describe the organizing principles of brain network architecture instantiated in structural wiring under constraints of spatial embedding and energy minimization. We then survey models of brain network function that stipulate how neural activity propagates along structural connections. Finally, we discuss perturbative experiments and models for brain network control; these use the physics of signal transmission along structural connections to infer intrinsic control processes that support goal-directed behaviour and to inform stimulation-based therapies for neurological and psychiatric disease. Throughout, we highlight open questions that invite the creative efforts of pioneering physicists.
The physics of brain network structure, function and control
Abstract - 2021 Dec 10
Complex problem solving is a high level cognitive task of the human brain, which has been studied over the last decade. Tower of London (TOL) is a game that has been widely used to study complex problem solving. In this paper, we aim to explore the underlying cognitive network structure among anatomical regions of complex problem solving and its subtasks, namely planning and execution. A new computational model for estimating a brain network at each time instant of fMRI recordings is proposed. The suggested method models the brain network as an Artificial Neural Network, where the weights correspond to the relationships among the brain anatomic regions. The first step of the model is preprocessing that manages to decrease the spatial redundancy while increasing the temporal resolution of the fMRI recordings. Then, dynamic brain networks are estimated using the preprocessed fMRI signal to train the Artificial Neural Network. The properties of the estimated brain networks are studied in order to identify regions of interest, such as hubs and subgroups of densely connected brain regions. The representation power of the suggested brain network is shown by decoding the planning and execution subtasks of complex problem solving. Our findings are consistent with the previous results of experimental psychology. Furthermore, it is observed that there are more hubs during the planning phase compared to the execution phase, and the clusters are more strongly connected during planning compared to execution.
Abstract - 7 Aug 2012
Recent studies have detected hubs in neuronal networks using degree, betweenness centrality, motif and synchronization and revealed the importance of hubs in their structural and functional roles. In addition, the analysis of complex networks in different scales are widely used in physics community. This can provide detailed insights into the intrinsic properties of networks. In this study, we focus on the identification of controlling regions in cortical networks of cats’ brain in microscopic, mesoscopic and macroscopic scales, based on single-objective evolutionary computation methods. The problem is investigated by considering two measures of controllability separately. The impact of the number of driver nodes on controllability is revealed and the properties of controlling nodes are shown in a statistical way. Our results show that the statistical properties of the controlling nodes display a concave or convex shape with an increase of the allowed number of controlling nodes, revealing a transition in choosing driver nodes from the areas with a large degree to the areas with a low degree. Interestingly, the community Auditory in cats’ brain, which has sparse connections with other communities, plays an important role in controlling the neuronal networks.
Identifying Controlling Nodes in Neuronal Networks in Different Scales
Abstract - September 29, 2023
Functional compensation is a common notion in the neuroscience of healthy ageing, whereby older adults are proposed to recruit additional brain activity to compensate for reduced cognitive function. However, whether this additional brain activity in older participants actually helps their cognitive performance remains debated. We examined brain activity and cognitive performance in a human lifespan sample (N=223) while they performed a problem-solving task (based on Cattell’s test of fluid intelligence) during functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Whole-brain univariate analysis revealed that activity in bilateral cuneal cortex for hard vs. easy problems increased both with age and with performance, even when adjusting for an estimate of age-related differences in cerebrovascular reactivity. Multivariate Bayesian decoding further demonstrated that age increased the likelihood that activation patterns in this cuneal region provided non-redundant information about the two task conditions, beyond that of the multiple-demand network generally activated in this task. This constitutes some of the strongest evidence yet for functional compensation in healthy ageing, at least in this brain region during visual problem-solving.
Neural Evidence of Functional Compensation for Fluid Intelligence in Healthy Ageing
Abstract - 2019
While Granger Causality(GC)-based approaches have been widely employed in a vast number of problems in network science, the vast majority of GC applications are based on linear multivariate autoregressive (MVAR) models. However, it is well known that real-life system (and biological networks in particular) exhibit notable nonlinear behavior, hence undermining that validity of MVAR-based approaches to estimating GC (MVAR-GC). In this paper, we define a novel approach to estimating nonlinear, directed within-network interactions based on a specific class of recurrent neural networks (RNN) termed echo-state networks (ESN). We reformulate the classical GC framework in terms of ESN-based models for multivariate signals generated by arbitrarily complex networks, and characterize the ability of our ESN-based Granger Causality (ES-GC) to capture nonlinear causal relations by simulating multivariate coupling in a network of nonlinearly interacting, noisy Duffing oscillators operating in a chaotic regime. Synthetic validation shows a net advantage of ES-GC over all other estimators in detecting nonlinear, causal links. We then explore the structure of EC-GC networks in the human brain in functional MRI data from 1003 healthy subjects scanned at rest at 3T, discovering previously unknown between-network interactions. In summary, ES-GC performs significantly better than commonly used and recently developed GC detection tools, making it a superior tool for the analysis of e.g. multivariate biological networks.
Recurrent neural networks for reconstructing complex directed brain connectivity
Abstract - 18 August 2021
Concepts of cognitive control (CC) and executive function (EF) are defined in terms of their relationships with goal-directed behavior versus habits and controlled versus automatic processing, and related to the functions of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and related regions and networks. A psychometric approach shows unity and diversity in CC constructs, with 3 components in the most commonly studied constructs: general or common CC and components specific to mental set shifting and working memory updating. These constructs are considered against the cellular and systems neurobiology of PFC and what is known of its functional neuroanatomical or network organization based on lesioning, neurochemical, and neuroimaging approaches across species. CC is also considered in the context of motivation, as “cool” and “hot” forms. Its Common CC component is shown to be distinct from general intelligence (g) and closely related to response inhibition. Impairments in CC are considered as possible causes of psychiatric symptoms and consequences of disorders. The relationships of CC with the general factor of psychopathology (p) and dimensional constructs such as impulsivity in large scale developmental and adult populations are considered, as well as implications for genetic studies and RDoC approaches to psychiatric classification.
The role of prefrontal cortex in cognitive control and executive function