Olaf Sporns

An integrative overview of network approaches to neuroscience explores the origins of brain complexity and the link between brain structure and function.

Networks of the Brain

A pioneer in the field outlines new empirical and computational approaches to mapping the neural connections of the human brain. Crucial to understanding how the brain works is connectivity, and the centerpiece of brain connectivity is the connectome, a comprehensive description of how neurons and brain regions are connected. In this book, Olaf Sporns surveys current efforts to chart these connections—to map the human connectome. He argues that the nascent field of connectomics has already begun to influence the way many neuroscientists collect, analyze, and think about their data. Moreover, the idea of mapping the connections of the human brain in their entirety has captured the imaginations of researchers across several disciplines including human cognition, brain and mental disorders, and complex systems and networks. Discovering the Human Connectome offers the first comprehensive overview of current empirical and computational approaches in this rapidly developing field.

Discovering the Human Connectome

An integrative overview of network approaches to neuroscience explores the origins of brain complexity and the link between brain structure and function. Over the last decade, the study of complex networks has expanded across diverse scientific fields. Increasingly, science is concerned with the structure, behavior, and evolution of complex systems ranging from cells to ecosystems. In Networks of the Brain, Olaf Sporns describes how the integrative nature of brain function can be illuminated from a complex network perspective. Highlighting the many emerging points of contact between neuroscience and network science, the book serves to introduce network theory to neuroscientists and neuroscience to those working on theoretical network models. Sporns emphasizes how networks connect levels of organization in the brain and how they link structure to function, offering an informal and nonmathematical treatment of the subject. Networks of the Brain provides a synthesis of the sciences of complex networks and the brain that will be an essential foundation for future research.

Kenji Doya

Bernhard Sendhoff

Edgar Körner

Helge Ritter

TheInternationalSymposiumCreatingBrain-LikeIntelligencewasheldinFeb- ary 2007 in Germany. The symposium brought together notable scientists from di?erent backgrounds and with di?erent expertise related to the emerging ?eld of brain-like intelligence. Our understanding of the principles behind brain-like intelligence is still limited. After all, we have had to acknowledge that after tremendous advances in areas like neural networks, computational and arti?cial intelligence (a ?eld that had just celebrated its 50 year anniversary) and fuzzy systems, we are still not able to mimic even the lower-level sensory capabilities of humans or animals. We asked what the biggest obstacles are and how we could gain ground toward a scienti?c understanding of the autonomy, ?exibility, and robustness of intelligent biological systems as they strive to survive. New principles are usually found at the interfaces between existing disciplines, and traditional boundaries between disciplines have to be broken down to see how complex systems become simple and how the puzzle can be assembled. During the symposium we could identify some recurring themes that p- vaded many of the talks and discussions. The triad of structure, dynamics and environment,theroleoftheenvironmentasanactivepartnerinshapingsystems, adaptivity on all scales (learning, development, evolution) and the amalga- tion of an internal and external world in brain-like intelligence rate high among them. Each of us is rooted in a certain community which we have to serve with the results of our research. Looking beyond our ?elds and working at the interfaces between established areas of research requires e?ort and an active process.

Olaf Sporns

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