Multiscale Models Of Brain Disorders

This book focuses on our current understanding of brain dynamics in various brain disorders (e.g. epilepsy, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease) and how the multi-scale, multi-level tools of computational neuroscience can enhance this understanding. In recent years, there have been significant advances in the study of the dynamics of the disordered brain at both the microscopic and the macroscopic levels. This understanding can be furthered by the application of multi-scale computational models as integrative principles that may link single neuron dynamics and the dynamics of local and distant brain regions observed using human EEG, ERPs, MEG, LFPs and fMRI. Focusing on the computational models that are used to study movement, memory and cognitive disorders as well as epilepsy and consciousness related diseases, the book brings together physiologists and anatomists investigating cortical circuits; cognitive neuroscientists studying brain dynamics and behavior by means of EEG and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI); and computational neuroscientists using neural modeling techniques to explore local and large-scale disordered brain dynamics. Covering topics that have a significant impact on the field of medicine, neuroscience and computer science, the book appeals to a diverse group of investigators.

A comprehensive Introduction to the world of brain and behavior computational models This book provides a broad collection of articles covering different aspects of computational modeling efforts in psychology and neuroscience. Specifically, it discusses models that span different brain regions (hippocampus, amygdala, basal ganglia, visual cortex), different species (humans, rats, fruit flies), and different modeling methods (neural network, Bayesian, reinforcement learning, data fitting, and Hodgkin-Huxley models, among others). Computational Models of Brain and Behavior is divided into four sections: (a) Models of brain disorders; (b) Neural models of behavioral processes; (c) Models of neural processes, brain regions and neurotransmitters, and (d) Neural modeling approaches. It provides in-depth coverage of models of psychiatric disorders, including depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), schizophrenia, and dyslexia; models of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and epilepsy; early sensory and perceptual processes; models of olfaction; higher/systems level models and low-level models; Pavlovian and instrumental conditioning; linking information theory to neurobiology; and more. Covers computational approximations to intellectual disability in down syndrome Discusses computational models of pharmacological and immunological treatment in Alzheimer's disease Examines neural circuit models of serotonergic system (from microcircuits to cognition) Educates on information theory, memory, prediction, and timing in associative learning Computational Models of Brain and Behavior is written for advanced undergraduate, Master's and PhD-level students—as well as researchers involved in computational neuroscience modeling research.

This book contains selected contributions of papers, many presented at the Second International Workshop on Neural Modeling of Brain Disorders, as well as a few additional papers on related topics, including a wide range of presentations describing computational models of neurological, neuropsychological and psychiatric disorders. It is a unique, comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art of modeling cognitive and brain disorders, appealing to a multidisciplinary audience of clinicians, psychologists, neuroscientists, cognitive scientists, computer scientists, and other neural network researchers. The rest of the book is organized along four main themes, involving memory, neuropsychological, neurological and psychiatric disorders. In general, the cognitive disorders and these psychiatric diseases traditionally regarded as "functional" were modeled along functional lines, while those disorders traditionally viewed as "organic" neurological diseases generally drew more from knowledge of the underlying neurobiology and pathophysiology.

This book is a collection of articles by leading researchers working at the cutting edge of neuro-computational modelling of neurological and psychiatric disorders. Each article contains model validation techniques used in the context of the specific problem being studied. Validation is essential for neuro-inspired computational models to become useful tools in the understanding and treatment of disease conditions. Currently, the immense diversity in neuro-computational modelling approaches for investigating brain diseases has created the need for a structured and coordinated approach to benchmark and standardise validation methods and techniques in this field of research. This book serves as a step towards a systematic approach to validation of neuro-computational models used for studying brain diseases and should be useful for all neuro-computational modellers.

This book is authored by leading experts who made major discoveries in neuroteratology research focused on modeling human neural developmental disorders. Individual chapters address ADHD (attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder), Lesch-Nyhan disease, psychoses and schizophrenia, autism, and models of Parkinson’s Disease and tardive dyskinesia. The effects of perinatal stress and agonist insults on life-long outcomes are addressed, as well as the overall effects of perinatal neurotoxins on development of specific neural phenotypic systems. The book provides a unique compendium on how perinatal insults of various types can produce effects in brain that persist throughout the life span. Researchers can derive insight into experimental approaches in this research field; clinicians can develop insights into the influences of the many noxious and seemingly innocuous substances that might influence brain development in children.

In the last few years, advances in human structural and functional neuroimaging (fMRI, PET, EEG/MEG) have resulted in an explosion of studies investigating the anatomical and functional connectivity between different regions of the brain. More and more studies have employed resting and task-related connectivity analyses to assess functional interactions, and diffusion-weighted tractography to study white matter organization. Many of these studies have addressed normal human function, but recently, a number of investigators have turned their attention to examining brain disorders. The study of brain disorders is a complex endeavor; not only does it require understanding the normal brain, and the regions involved in a particular function, but also it needs a deeper understanding of brain networks and their dynamics. This Research Topic will provide the scientific community with an overview of how to apply connectivity methods to study brain disease, and with perspectives on what are the strength and limitations of each modality. For this Research Topic, we solicit both reviews and original research articles on the use of brain connectivity analysis, with non-human or human models, to explore neurological, psychiatric, developmental and neurodegenerative disorders from a system perspective. Connectivity studies that have focused on one or more of the following will be of particular interest: (1) detection of abnormal functional/structural connectivity; (2) neural plasticity, assessed by changes in connectivity, in patients with brain disorders; (3) assessment of therapy using connectivity measures; (4) relation of connectivity changes to behavioral changes.

Multiscale Biomechanical Modeling of the Brain discusses the constitutive modeling of the brain at various length scales (nanoscale, microscale, mesoscale, macroscale and structural scale). In each scale, the book describes the state-of-the- experimental and computational tools used to quantify critical deformational information at each length scale. Then, at the structural scale, several user-based constitutive material models are presented, along with real-world boundary value problems. Lastly, design and optimization concepts are presented for use in occupant-centric design frameworks. This book is useful for both academia and industry applications that cover basic science aspects or applied research in head and brain protection. The multiscale approach to this topic is unique, and not found in other books. It includes meticulously selected materials that aim to connect the mechanistic analysis of the brain tissue at size scales ranging from subcellular to organ levels. Presents concepts in a theoretical and thermodynamic framework for each length scale Teaches readers not only how to use an existing multiscale model for each brain but also how to develop a new multiscale model Takes an integrated experimental-computational approach and gives structured multiscale coverage of the problems