Lecture
LCN2 Seminar: Critical Brain Dynamics
- Date
- Friday 31 January 2020
- Time
- Location
-
Gorlaeus Building
Einsteinweg 55
2333 CC Leiden - Room
- Science club
37th LCN2 seminar
Speaker: Klaus Linkenkaer-Hansen
Title: From ‘theory of critical brain dynamics’ to biomarkers of excitation/inhibition balance
Abstract
Balance between excitatory and inhibitory forces is considered an overriding principle for neuronal network organization and information processing. Consistent with this notion, excitation-inhibition imbalances are seen as a common pathophysiological mechanism in many brain disorders. So far, the study of excitation-inhibition ratio (E/I) required invasive procedures and was restricted to studies using animals or computational modeling. In this talk, I will introduce the concept of critical brain dynamics and show how we have used computational models of critical brain dynamics to develop a method to determine a network-level functional E/I ratio from non-invasive EEG recordings in humans. Application of the method to unmedicated children with ASD revealed novel physiological contrasts relating to increases and decreases in network-level E/I ratios. These findings could prove useful for patient stratification and support treatment-development studies.
Department of Integrative Neurophysiology, Center for Neurogenomics and Cognitive Research, Amsterdam Neuroscience, VU University Amsterdam, 1081 HV Amsterdam, Netherlands