Stochastic and/or computational modeling of the brain functioning

• Grant number: 18/09150-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: June 01, 2018
• End date: November 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Physical Sciences and Mathematics - Physics
• Principal Investigator: Antonio Carlos Roque da Silva Filho
• Grantee: Mauricio Girardi Schappo
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 13/07699-0 - Research, Innovation and Dissemination Center for Neuromathematics - NeuroMat, AP.CEPID

Abstract

Epilepsy is a very common disease, occurring in about 1% of the world population. It is frequently defined as a state of recurring seizures that may be caused by unbalanced inhibition and excitation in the brain. Recent developments from NeuroMat are putting forward a stochastic theory to account for the brain criticality hypothesis with and without external input. However, there is still a gap to be filled: how does the brain criticality hypothesis relate to the development of neurological disorders? One expects that disorders physiologically expressed as disturbances of healthy brain oscillations, such as epileptic seizures, could be captured by changes in the macroscopic dynamics of neuronal avalanches. This project will address this issue through stochastic models (both mean-field and spatially extended) for a self-organized neuronal network that takes into account epileptic neuronal populations. The neuronal population model should follow from a stochastic simplification of continuum dynamical models, whereas the self-organization should follow the homeostatic mechanisms already present in the literature. The developed models not only will bring knowledge about the functioning of the epileptic brain and its relationship with self-organized critiality, but could be further extended into a data-driven approach to enhance diagnosis and treatment of epilepsy patients.

Scientific publications

(6)

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

GIRARDI-SCHAPPO, MAURICIO; BROCHINI, LUDMILA; COSTA, ARIADNE A.; CARVALHO, TAWAN T. A.; KINOUCHI, OSAME. Synaptic balance due to homeostatically self-organized quasicritical dynamics. PHYSICAL REVIEW RESEARCH, v. 2, n. 1, FEB 20 2020. (16/24676-1, 13/07699-0, 19/12746-3, 16/00430-3, 18/09150-9, 16/20945-8)

CARVALHO, TAWAN T. A.; FONTENELE, ANTONIO J.; GIRARDI-SCHAPPO, MAURICIO; FELICIANO, THAIS; AGUIAR, LEANDRO A. A.; SILVA, THAIS P. L.; DE VASCONCELOS, NIVALDO A. P.; CARELLI, PEDRO V.; COPELLI, MAURO. Subsampled Directed-Percolation Models Explain Scaling Relations Experimentally Observed in the Brain. FRONTIERS IN NEURAL CIRCUITS, v. 14, JAN 15 2021. (18/09150-9, 13/07699-0)

SHIMOURA, RENAN OLIVEIRA; PENA, RODRIGO F. O.; LIMA, VINICIUS; KAMIJI, NILTON L.; GIRARDI-SCHAPPO, MAURICIO; ROQUE, ANTONIO C.. Building a model of the brain: from detailed connectivity maps to network organization. European Physical Journal-Special Topics, v. 230, n. 14-15, p. 2887-2909, OCT 2021. (13/25667-8, 17/07688-9, 18/09150-9, 18/20277-0, 16/03855-5, 13/07699-0, 15/50122-0)

GIRARDI-SCHAPPO, MAURICIO; COSTA, ARIADNE DE ANDRADE. Hints from statistical physics and graph theory to build synthetic connectomes Comment on "What would a synthetic connectome look like?" by I. Rabinowitch. PHYSICS OF LIFE REVIEWS, v. 33, p. 3-pg., 2020-07-01. (13/07699-0, 18/09150-9)

SHIMOURA, RENAN OLIVEIRA; PENA, RODRIGO F. O.; LIMA, VINICIUS; KAMIJI, NILTON L.; GIRARDI-SCHAPPO, MAURICIO; ROQUE, ANTONIO C.. Building a model of the brain: from detailed connectivity maps to network organization. European Physical Journal-Special Topics, JUN 2021. (17/07688-9, 18/09150-9, 15/50122-0, 18/20277-0, 16/03855-5, 13/25667-8, 13/07699-0)

GIRARDI-SCHAPPO, MAURICIO; GALERA, EMILIO F.; CARVALHO, TAWAN T. A.; BROCHINI, LUDMILA; KAMIJI, NILTON L.; ROQUE, ANTONIO C.; KINOUCHI, OSAME. A unified theory of E/I synaptic balance, quasicritical neuronal avalanches and asynchronous irregular spiking. JOURNAL OF PHYSICS-COMPLEXITY, v. 2, n. 4, DEC 2021. (19/12746-3, 18/09150-9, 18/20277-0, 16/24676-1, 13/07699-0, 15/50122-0, 16/03855-5)