Principles of Brain Dynamics


Book Description

Experimental and theoretical approaches to global brain dynamics that draw on the latest research in the field. The consideration of time or dynamics is fundamental for all aspects of mental activity—perception, cognition, and emotion—because the main feature of brain activity is the continuous change of the underlying brain states even in a constant environment. The application of nonlinear dynamics to the study of brain activity began to flourish in the 1990s when combined with empirical observations from modern morphological and physiological observations. This book offers perspectives on brain dynamics that draw on the latest advances in research in the field. It includes contributions from both theoreticians and experimentalists, offering an eclectic treatment of fundamental issues. Topics addressed range from experimental and computational approaches to transient brain dynamics to the free-energy principle as a global brain theory. The book concludes with a short but rigorous guide to modern nonlinear dynamics and their application to neural dynamics.




Nonlinear Dynamics in Computational Neuroscience


Book Description

This book provides an essential overview of computational neuroscience. It addresses a broad range of aspects, from physiology to nonlinear dynamical approaches to understanding neural computation, and from the simulation of brain circuits to the development of engineering devices and platforms for neuromorphic computation. Written by leading experts in such diverse fields as neuroscience, physics, psychology, neural engineering, cognitive science and applied mathematics, the book reflects the remarkable advances that have been made in the field of computational neuroscience, an emerging discipline devoted to the study of brain functions in terms of the information-processing properties of the structures forming the nervous system. The contents build on the workshop “Nonlinear Dynamics in Computational Neuroscience: from Physics and Biology to ICT,” which was held in Torino, Italy in September 2015.




Chaos in Brain Function


Book Description

The analysis of deterministic chaos is currently an active field in many branches of research. Mathematically all nonlinear dynamical systems with more than two degrees of freedom can generate chaos, becoming unpredictable over a longer time scale. The brain is a nonlinear system par excellence. Accordingly, the concepts of chaotic dynamics have found, in the last five years, an important application in research on compound electrical activity of the brain. The present volume seeks to cover most of the relevant studies in the newly emerging field of chaotic attractors in the brain. This volume is essentially a selection and reorganization of contri butions from the first two volumes in the Springer Series in Brain Dynamics, which were based on conferences held in 1985 and 1987 in Berlin. It also includes (a) a survey of progress in the recording of evoked oscillations of the brain both at the cellular and EEG levels and (b) an agenda for research on chaotic dynamics. Although the first publications pointing out evidence of chaotic behavior of the EEG did not appear until the beginning of 1985, the presence of the pioneering scientists in this field gave the participants at the first conference (volume 1) a strong impulse toward this field. For me, as conference organizer, having been for a long time active in nonlinear EEG research, the integration of this topic was self-evident; however, the enthusiasm of the conference participants was greater than expected.







Dynamical Systems in Neuroscience


Book Description

Explains the relationship of electrophysiology, nonlinear dynamics, and the computational properties of neurons, with each concept presented in terms of both neuroscience and mathematics and illustrated using geometrical intuition. In order to model neuronal behavior or to interpret the results of modeling studies, neuroscientists must call upon methods of nonlinear dynamics. This book offers an introduction to nonlinear dynamical systems theory for researchers and graduate students in neuroscience. It also provides an overview of neuroscience for mathematicians who want to learn the basic facts of electrophysiology. Dynamical Systems in Neuroscience presents a systematic study of the relationship of electrophysiology, nonlinear dynamics, and computational properties of neurons. It emphasizes that information processing in the brain depends not only on the electrophysiological properties of neurons but also on their dynamical properties. The book introduces dynamical systems, starting with one- and two-dimensional Hodgkin-Huxley-type models and continuing to a description of bursting systems. Each chapter proceeds from the simple to the complex, and provides sample problems at the end. The book explains all necessary mathematical concepts using geometrical intuition; it includes many figures and few equations, making it especially suitable for non-mathematicians. Each concept is presented in terms of both neuroscience and mathematics, providing a link between the two disciplines. Nonlinear dynamical systems theory is at the core of computational neuroscience research, but it is not a standard part of the graduate neuroscience curriculum—or taught by math or physics department in a way that is suitable for students of biology. This book offers neuroscience students and researchers a comprehensive account of concepts and methods increasingly used in computational neuroscience. An additional chapter on synchronization, with more advanced material, can be found at the author's website, www.izhikevich.com.




Nonlinear Brain Dynamics


Book Description

At the beginning of the 21st century, understanding the brain has become one of the final frontiers of science. Hailed as the 'most complex object in the universe' the brain still defies a complete understanding of its workings, in particular in relation to consciousness and higher brain functions. Despite enormous scientific efforts, the question how the 'mere matter' of 1011 interacting nerve cells can give rise to the inner world of our subjective feelings still remains an enigma. However, in contrast to a few decades ago, when respectable neuroscience was not expected to deal with such questions, the search for brain/mind relationships has now become the focus of intense research. The central idea of this book: to understand the brain, we need to understand its dynamics.




How Brains Make Up Their Minds


Book Description

I think, therefore I am. The legendary pronouncement of philosopher René Descartes lingers as accepted wisdom in the Western world nearly four centuries after its author's death. But does thought really come first? Who actually runs the show: we, our thoughts, or the neurons firing within our brains? Walter J. Freeman explores how we control our behavior and make sense of the world around us. Avoiding determinism both in sociobiology, which proposes that persons' genes control their brains' functioning, and in neuroscience, which posits that their brains' disposition is molded by chemistry and environmental forces, Freeman charts a new course--one that gives individuals due credit and responsibility for their actions. Drawing upon his five decades of research in neuroscience, Freeman utilizes the latest advances in his field as well as perspectives from disciplines as diverse as mathematics, psychology, and philosophy to explicate how different human brains act in their chosen diverse ways. He clarifies the implications of brain imaging, by which neural activity can be observed during the course of normal movements, and shows how nonlinear dynamics reveals order within the fecund chaos of brain function.




Dynamic Patterns


Book Description

foreword by Hermann Haken For the past twenty years Scott Kelso's research has focused on extending the physical concepts of self- organization and the mathematical tools of nonlinear dynamics to understand how human beings (and human brains) perceive, intend, learn, control, and coordinate complex behaviors. In this book Kelso proposes a new, general framework within which to connect brain, mind, and behavior.Kelso's prescription for mental life breaks dramatically with the classical computational approach that is still the operative framework for many newer psychological and neurophysiological studies. His core thesis is that the creation and evolution of patterned behavior at all levels--from neurons to mind--is governed by the generic processes of self-organization. Both human brain and behavior are shown to exhibit features of pattern-forming dynamical systems, including multistability, abrupt phase transitions, crises, and intermittency. Dynamic Patterns brings together different aspects of this approach to the study of human behavior, using simple experimental examples and illustrations to convey essential concepts, strategies, and methods, with a minimum of mathematics. Kelso begins with a general account of dynamic pattern formation. He then takes up behavior, focusing initially on identifying pattern-forming instabilities in human sensorimotor coordination. Moving back and forth between theory and experiment, he establishes the notion that the same pattern-forming mechanisms apply regardless of the component parts involved (parts of the body, parts of the nervous system, parts of society) and the medium through which the parts are coupled. Finally, employing the latest techniques to observe spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity, Kelso shows that the human brain is fundamentally a pattern forming dynamical system, poised on the brink of instability. Self-organization thus underlies the cooperative action of neurons that produces human behavior in all its forms.




Emergent Brain Dynamics


Book Description

Experts explore the maturation of nonlinear brain dynamics from a developmental perspective and consider the relationship of neurodevelopmental disorders to early disruption in dynamic coordination. This volume in the Strüngmann Forum Reports series explores the complex mechanisms that accompany the dynamic processes by which the brain evolves and matures. Integrating perspectives from multiple disciplines, the book identifies knowledge gaps and proposes innovative ways forward for this emerging area of cross-disciplinary study. The contributors examine maturation of nonlinear brain dynamics across systems from a developmental perspective and relate these organizing networks to the establishment of normative cognition and pathology seen in many neurodevelopmental disorders. The book looks at key mechanistic questions, including: What role does dynamic coordination play in the establishment and maintenance of brain networks and structural and functional connectivity? How are local and global functional networks assembled and transformed over normative development? To what degree do oscillatory patterns vary across development? What is the impact of critical periods, and which factors initiate and terminate such periods? It also explores the potential of new technologies and techniques to enhance understanding of normative development and to enable early identification and remediation of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders that may result from early disruption in dynamic coordination. Contributors Sylvain Baillet, Yehezkel Ben-Ari, April A. Benasich, Olivier Bertrand, Gyorgy Buzsáki, Alain Chédotal, Sam M. Doesburg, Gordin Fishell, Adriana Galván, Jennifer N. Gelinas, Jay Giedd, Pierre Gressens, Ileana L. Hanganu-Opatz, Rowshanak Hashemiyoon, Takao K. Hensch, Suzana Herculano-Houzel, Mark Hübener, Mark, Matthias Kaschube, Michael S. Kobor, Bryan Kolb, Thorsten Kolling, Jean-Philippe Lachaux, Ulman Lindenberger, Heiko J. Luhmann, Hannah Monyer, Sarah R. Moore, Charles A. Nelson III, Tomáš Paus, Patrick L. Purdon, Pasko Rakic, Urs Ribary, Akira Sawa, Terrence J. Sejnowski, Wolf Singer, Cheryl L. Sisk, Nicholas C. Spitzer, Michael P. Stryker, Migranka Sur, Peter J. Uhlhaas




Self-Organized Biological Dynamics and Nonlinear Control


Book Description

The growing impact of nonlinear science on biology and medicine is fundamentally changing our view of living organisms and disease processes. This book introduces the application to biomedicine of a broad range of interdisciplinary concepts from nonlinear dynamics, such as self-organization, complexity, coherence, stochastic resonance, fractals and chaos. It comprises 18 chapters written by leading figures in the field and covers experimental and theoretical research, as well as the emerging technological possibilities such as nonlinear control techniques for treating pathological biodynamics, including heart arrhythmias and epilepsy. This book will attract the interest of professionals and students from a wide range of disciplines, including physicists, chemists, biologists, sensory physiologists and medical researchers such as cardiologists, neurologists and biomedical engineers.