Network Neuroscience

Flavio Fröhlich

• Publisher: Academic Press
• Year: 2016
• ISBN:
  9780128015865
• Topic: Biological Sciences
• Subtopic: Neuroscience
• Index: Biological Sciences

Studying brain networks has become a truly interdisciplinary endeavor, attracting students and seasoned researchers alike from a wide variety of academic backgrounds. What has been lacking is an introductory textbook that brings together the different fields and provides a gentle introduction to the major concepts and findings in the emerging field of network neuroscience. Network Neuroscience is a one-stop-shop that is of equal use to the neurobiologist, who is interested in understanding the quantitative methods employed in network neuroscience, and to the physicist or engineer, who is interested in neuroscience applications of mathematical and engineering tools. The book spans 27 chapters that cover everything from individual cells all the way to complex network disorders such as depression and autism spectrum disorders. An additional 12 toolboxes provide the necessary background for making network neuroscience accessible independent of the reader's background.

Dr. Flavio Frohlich wrote this book based on his experience of mentoring dozens of trainees in the Frohlich Lab, from undergraduate students to senior researchers. The Frohlich lab pursues a unique and integrated vision that combines computer simulations, animal model studies, human studies, and clinical trials with the goal of developing novel brain stimulation treatments for psychiatric disorders. The book is based on a course he teaches at UNC that has attracted trainees from many different departments, including neuroscience, biomedical engineering, psychology, cell biology, physiology, neurology, and psychiatry. Dr. Frohlich has consistently received rave reviews for his teaching. With this book he hopes to make his integrated view of neuroscience available to trainees and researchers on a global scale. His goal is to make the book the training manual for the next generation of (network) neuroscientists, who will be fusing biology, engineering, and medicine to unravel the big questions about the brain and to revolutionize psychiatry and neurology.

• Easy-to-read, comprehensive introduction to the emerging field of network neuroscience
• Includes 27 chapters packed with information on topics from single neurons to complex network disorders such as depression and autism
• Features 12 toolboxes serve as primers to provide essential background knowledge in the fields of biology, mathematics, engineering, and physics

Unit V

Toolboxes

Outline

Toolbox Neurons

Toolbox Animal Models

Toolbox Neurology

Toolbox Psychiatry

Toolbox Matlab

Toolbox Electrical Circuits

Toolbox Differential Equations

Toolbox Dynamical Systems

Toolbox Graph Theory

Toolbox Modeling Neurons

Toolbox Physics of Electric Fields

Toolbox Time and Frequency

Toolbox Neurons

Is this toolbox for me?

To understand how brain networks function, we need to understand their components, particularly individual neurons. If you are new to neuroscience (and biology), this toolbox will equip you with the basic language describing the fundamental biological properties of neurons.

Blueprint of a Neuron

As other cells, neurons consist of a cell membrane (a phospholipid bilayer) and intracellular content called the cytosol. The cell membrane delineates the cell and provides electrical insulation so that neurons exhibit a membrane voltage, defined as the difference between the intracellular and extracellular electric potential. Ions move between the intracellular and extracellular space by passing through pores embedded in the cell membrane called ion channels. The ion currents modulate the membrane voltage for neuronal signaling (see chapter: Dynamics of the Action Potential). The shape, that is, morphology, of individual neurons can vary greatly and presents one of the key criteria used to classify neurons. Most neurons consist of a set of structures that receive input from other neurons: there are dendrites, the actual cell body that contains the nucleus, the soma, and a branched structure, the axon, which sends out electric signals to other neurons (Fig. A1.1). Both dendrites and axons can exhibit complex branching patterns. As a result, the set of dendrites is often referred to as the dendritic tree. Dendrites are covered with synapses, electrochemical junctions at which presynaptic axons from other cells communicate with the postsynaptic cell. Dendrites are also endowed with intrinsic, that is, nonsynaptic, ion channels that modulate the integration of the incoming electric input. In the absence of input, a neuron exhibits a resting membrane voltage of around −70 mV, meaning that the electric potential inside the neuron is 70 mV less than the electric potential outside the cell. The degree of overall depolarization (change in membrane voltage toward less negative values) determines whether the neuron generates an output signal, that is, an action potential. Typically, a neuron “fires” an action potential when its membrane voltage reaches a value of about −50 mV. An action potential is a brief spike in the membrane voltage (1–2 ms in duration) that reaches a value of about 50 mV and that propagates both along the axon and back into the dendrites.

Figure A1.1 Schematic representation of two reciprocally connected pyramidal cells. The main morphological features are the apical and basal, local axon collaterals, and the axon projecting to other areas via white matter. Synapses are marked with an arrow (presynaptic → postsynaptic neuron). Dendrites are shown in blue and green. Axons are shown in red and orange. AH, Axon hillock.

Dendrites

The morphology of dendrites differs by cell type (Fig. A1.2). Since the dendrites receive the majority of synaptic input, the location and size of the dendrites are often good indicators of the location and number of inputs that a neuron receives.

Transmission at one specific synapse caus...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Preface
• Introduction
• Introduction
• Unit I. Neurons, Synapses, and Circuits
• Introduction
• Unit II. Measuring, Perturbing, and Analyzing Brain Networks
• Introduction
• Unit III. Cortical Oscillations
• Introduction
• Unit IV. Network Disorders
• Introduction
• Unit V. Toolboxes
• Index