Complex network dynamics of cognitive processing in health and disease: Current knowledge and future research

In the past decade, brain research has shifted from focusing on specific regions to identifying mechanistic network features underlying cognitive abilities like learning, memory, attention, executive control, and language. This shift has led to a significant increase in publications on brain networks and connectivity, utilizing neuroimaging techniques such as fMRI, MEG, EEG, fNIRS, PET, and TMS. These studies have accumulated knowledge characterizing network dynamics and complexity.

Research indicates that functional network measures of human cognition exhibit abnormalities in clinical disorders and change with normal aging, highlighting their neurobiological importance. There is now a keen interest in employing innovative computational methods to model brain connectivity, hierarchical control, and feedback mechanisms. Significant progress in this area could offer potential translational paths for identifying brain networks associated with neurological and psychiatric disorders. However, more evidence is needed to understand the mechanisms underlying human cognition and its alterations in these disorders.

We aim to gather cutting-edge research that delves into the neural networks responsible for cognitive processes in both healthy individuals and those with neurological and psychiatric disorders.

This Research Topic will feature articles that focus on functional and causal interactions between brain regions at both the systems and network levels of brain connectivity. Manuscripts may include experimental studies, theoretical models, computational approaches, and novel methodologies that investigate the complex network dynamics of human brain. In addition to empirical studies, we seek comprehensive reviews that summarize current knowledge, highlight emerging trends, and identify critical gaps in the field. Papers that propose future research directions, discuss the implications of network dynamics for understanding disease mechanisms, and suggest potential therapeutic interventions are particularly welcome.

This Research Topic welcomes submissions of Original Research, Review articles, Data Report, Hypothesis & Theory, Methods, Mini Review, and Study Protocol. We welcome research studies with neuroimaging methods such as electroencephalography (EEG), Magnetoencephalography (MEG), functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), Positron emission tomography (PET) and Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and Transcranial electrical stimulation (TES).

By enhancing our understanding of how cognitive functions emerge from network dynamics and how these processes are disrupted in disease states, we aim to contribute to the development of innovative diagnostic tools and effective treatments.

Key topics include, but are not limited to:

• Functional connectivity analyses in cognitive neuroscience

• The impact of neurological disorders on brain network dynamics

• Network-based approaches to cognitive processing in health and disease

• Computational models for studying human brain networks

• Interventions targeting network dynamics to improve cognitive outcomes

We look forward to your contributions that will collectively advance our understanding of the complex network dynamics involved in cognitive processing and pave the way for future research and clinical applications.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• ... View all formats

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Brief Research Report
• Conceptual Analysis
• Data Report
• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• FAIR² DATA Direct Submission
• General Commentary
• Hypothesis and Theory
• Methods
• Mini Review
• Opinion
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review
• Systematic Review
• Technology and Code

Keywords: brain networks, cognitive processing, connectivity, neuroimaging, computational models

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.