About this Research Topic
Cognitive functions of the brain are the most prominent emergent phenomenon resulting from the mutual interaction of the brain’s whole-system neural activity. Targeted measurement of a broad range of deep brain regions is necessary to capture this functional emergence. The most commonly used neuroimaging technique for this purpose is functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). However, the blood-oxygenation-level-dependent signal captured by fMRI is the blood flow rate that indirectly reflects a neuronal ensemble’s firing activity, and its time resolution is low, of a few Hz at the most. Neural activity has a wide frequency range of approximately 100 Hz, including the high gamma band. The importance of using neuroimaging studies, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and magnetoencephalography (MEG) with higher time resolutions, for multiscale analysis over time is now widely recognized.
Neural activity captured by EEG/MEG is categorized into specific bands as delta (2-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), beta (13-30 Hz), and gamma (30-60 Hz) waves. Power analysis has always been used to capture the brain’s neural activity by determining which band of frequencies has the most components in the oscillations of local neural activity in each area of interest. Much research has been accumulated that reveals the changes in the power spectrum of psychiatric disorders and its relationship with the power spectrum of cognitive functions. In other words, this power analysis method focuses on the degree of local activity in the neural network. Recent neural network studies with neuroimaging have reported that brain functions are not simply produced in discrete brain regions but emerge from the interactions forming whole-system neural activities. There are two representative methods for evaluating such interactions of neural activity, i.e., functional connectivity especially including dynamical function connectivity and the complexity (also called variability) of neural activity.
In addition to EEG/MEG, behavioral data such as body movements, heart rate, and pupil diameter reflect the state of neural activity in the brain. Especially the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system, the origin of the pupil diameter and the autonomic nervous system, is connected to almost all brain areas and may regulate various brain functions, including attention, arousal, and emotion. Since attention, arousal, and emotion are implicated in many psychiatric disorders, including developmental disorders and schizophrenia, some studies have captured changes in neural activity based on a time series of pupil diameter measurements. More recently, attention has shifted toward research approaches that combine behavioral data measurement with other neuroimaging data.
In this Research Topic, we seek to promote research investigating the relationship between neurodynamics, cognitive functions, and psychiatric disorders by combining such neuroimaging data from multiple sources.
We welcome Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Reviews, and Mini-reviews regarding dynamics analysis for multimodal neuroimaging that address, but are not limited to, the following issues:
- Alternations of dynamics of neural activity under the pathological conditions of psychiatric disorders.
- Relationship of dynamics of neural activity with cognitive functions
- Mathematical modeling for describing these dynamics
Neural activity captured by EEG/MEG is categorized into specific bands as delta (2-4 Hz), theta (4-8 Hz), alpha (8-13 Hz), beta (13-30 Hz), and gamma (30-60 Hz) waves. Power analysis has always been used to capture the brain’s neural activity by determining which band of frequencies has the most components in the oscillations of local neural activity in each area of interest. Much research has been accumulated that reveals the changes in the power spectrum of psychiatric disorders and its relationship with the power spectrum of cognitive functions. In other words, this power analysis method focuses on the degree of local activity in the neural network. Recent neural network studies with neuroimaging have reported that brain functions are not simply produced in discrete brain regions but emerge from the interactions forming whole-system neural activities. There are two representative methods for evaluating such interactions of neural activity, i.e., functional connectivity especially including dynamical function connectivity and the complexity (also called variability) of neural activity.
In addition to EEG/MEG, behavioral data such as body movements, heart rate, and pupil diameter reflect the state of neural activity in the brain. Especially the locus coeruleus-noradrenergic system, the origin of the pupil diameter and the autonomic nervous system, is connected to almost all brain areas and may regulate various brain functions, including attention, arousal, and emotion. Since attention, arousal, and emotion are implicated in many psychiatric disorders, including developmental disorders and schizophrenia, some studies have captured changes in neural activity based on a time series of pupil diameter measurements. More recently, attention has shifted toward research approaches that combine behavioral data measurement with other neuroimaging data.
In this Research Topic, we seek to promote research investigating the relationship between neurodynamics, cognitive functions, and psychiatric disorders by combining such neuroimaging data from multiple sources.
We welcome Original Research, Brief Research Reports, Reviews, and Mini-reviews regarding dynamics analysis for multimodal neuroimaging that address, but are not limited to, the following issues:
- Alternations of dynamics of neural activity under the pathological conditions of psychiatric disorders.
- Relationship of dynamics of neural activity with cognitive functions
- Mathematical modeling for describing these dynamics
Keywords: neurodynamics, multimodal neuroimage, neural network, cognitive function, muti-scale dynamics
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
