Feindel Virtual Brain and Mind Lecture Series: Predictive network neuroscience: Controlling networks to understand individual differences in psychopathology, development, and cognition

The Feindel Virtual Brain and Mind Seminar presents "Predictive Network Neuroscience: Controlling Networks to Understand Individual Differences in Psychopathology, Development, and Cognition"

Registration available here.

Speaker: Linden Parkes

Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Bioengineering, University of Pennsylvania, USA

Abstract: The brain is a complex system of structurally interconnected regions, and the elaborate topology of this macroscopic connectome enables a rich repertoire of dynamics. Network Control Theory (NCT) provides the means to study these dynamics to understand how neuronal signals traverse the connectome and facilitate inter-regional communication. In this talk, I will present work using NCT to study individual variability in the human connectome, with a focus on uncovering novel insights into the link between the brain and psychopathology, development, and cognition. Specifically, I will show that metrics from NCT substantially improve the out-of-sample prediction of psychosis symptoms compared to canonical measures from graph theory. Furthermore, I will demonstrate that NCT can be grounded in our knowledge of the brain’s hierarchy of cytoarchitecture and neuronal timescales, and I will show that leveraging this knowledge provides novel insights into connectome development as well as improves the prediction of executive function.

Bio: Dr. Parkes (@LindenParkes) is a postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania in the Department of Bioengineering. The central goal of Linden’s research is to better understand mental illness through brain research. To better understand the brain-behavior and brain-symptom relationships that are relevant to mental illness, we must be cognizant of their biological underpinnings, reveal their predictive capacity, translate our predictive insights into prognostic impact, and uncover the developmental pathways that give rise to brain network dysfunction. Dr. Parkes’ work spans these domains and is highly cross-disciplinary.

The Feindel Virtual Brain and Mind (VBM) Seminar Series will advance the vision of Dr. William Feindel (1918–2014), Former Director of the Neuro (1972–1984), to constantly bridge the clinical and research realms. The talks will highlight the latest advances and discoveries in neuropsychology, cognitive neuroscience, and neuroimaging.

Speakers will include scientists from across The Neuro, as well as colleagues and collaborators locally and from around the world. The series is intended to provide a virtual forum for scientists and trainees to continue to foster interdisciplinary exchanges on the mechanisms, diagnosis and treatment of brain and cognitive disorders.