[Seminar] "Energy landscape analyses of brain dynamics" by Dr. Jiyoung Kang

Computational Neuroscience Unit (De Schutter Unit) would like to invite you to a seminar by Dr. Jiyoung Kang, from Yonsei University, South Korea.

Title: Energy landscape analyses of brain dynamics

Abstract:

The question of how the human brain system at rest, despite being in a transitory phase among multistable states, is configured remains unresolved. To understand the organization properties of it, we constructed an energy landscape of subcortical brain network, using the resting-state fMRI data from 470 subjects of Human connectome project [1]. Here, we adopted the maximum entropy model to define the energy for each micro-state (activity pattern) of the brain, and evaluated alterations in energy landscapes following perturbations in network parameters. The perturbation analysis identified that i) the resting state brain contains the maximal number of stable states and ii) changes in the network parameter as small as in individual nodes or edges can cause a significant shift in the energy landscape of the system. Thus, the resting-state of the brain may be equivalent to a “ready-to go” state, and should be modulated by even small perturbations of the specific regions (or a pairwise interaction). Furthermore, to understand the state transition processes, we introduced state transition networks, which consist of nodes of micro-states and applied to the cortical brain system [2]. The analysis suggested that the state transitions in the resting-state are well organized; the existences of the hub transition state that bridges two groups of stable states, intermediate state, and multiple pathways were identified. In this way, the energy landscape analysis methods coupled with perturbation and state transition network could be a useful framework for exploring the brain dynamics.

[1] Jiyoung Kang, Chongwon Pae, and Hae-Jeong Park, Energy landscape analysis of the subcortical brain network unravels system properties beneath resting state dynamics, Neuroimage, 149, 153–164, 2017.
[2] Jiyoung Kang, Chongwon Pae, and Hae-Jeong Park, Graph-theoretical analysis for energy landscape reveals the organization of state transitions in the resting-state human cerebral cortex, PLoS One, 14, e0222161, 2019.

Dr. Jiyoung Kang

Center for Systems and Translational Brain Sciences, Institute of Human Complexity and Systems Science, Yonsei University, South Korea.