A Weighted Communicability Measure Applied To Complex Brain Networks

Main Category: Neurology / Neuroscience
Also Included In: Alzheimer's / Dementia;  Schizophrenia;  Parkinson's Disease
Article Date: 15 Jan 2009 - 6:00 PDT

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New magnetic resonance imaging techniques allow brain maps of live humans to be constructed. So scientists can now investigate how neurological disorders, such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia change the wiring in the brain. Crofts and Higham at the University of Strathclyde looked at brain networks of patients who had suffered strokes. They introduced a new concept called `weighted communicability', which measures the way information spreads around the brain. Their research showed that stroke patients can be distinguished through an overall decrease in communicability, and also revealed the brain regions where communicability is most likely to break down.

Journal of the Royal Society Interface

Journal of the Royal Society Interface is the Society's cross-disciplinary publication promoting research at the interface between the physical and life sciences. It offers rapidity, visibility and high-quality peer review and is ranked fifth in JCR's multidisciplinary category. The journal also incorporates Interface Focus, a peer-reviewed, themed supplement, each issue of which concentrates on a specific cross-disciplinary subject.

Journal of the Royal Society Interface

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