Linking connectomics and dynamics in the human brain

Abstract

To understand human cognition, it is essential to study the brain on multiple levels, from microscopic to macroscopic scales. Computational connectomics is a new area of neuroscience where scientists seek to combine empirical observations within a computational theory of the brain. The whole-brain network modeling and simulation platform, The Virtual Brain (TVB), is a remarkable innovation in the field of computational connectomics. By combining the connectivity of individual persons with local biologically realistic population models, TVB allows simulation and prediction of the local activity of neuronal populations and the global activity unfolding along the gray matter, both of which can be linked to empirical measures of electrical, hemodynamic, and structural aspects of the brain. TVB is currently used to study the structural, functional, and computational alterations in the diseased brain with reported successes in stroke and epilepsy. Subject-specific brain models provided by TVB will result in robust and efficient personalized diagnostics, prognostics, and treatment.