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Connectivity Analysis in Normal and Pathological Brains

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Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience

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Synonyms

Connectomics; Graph analysis; Network science

Definition

Connectivity analysis focuses on the neural network basis of the brain and characterizes topological and other aspects of brain network organization that appear relevant for understanding normal and pathological brain function.

Detailed Description

Brains as Networks

The network perspective of the brain integrates aspects of local versus distributed brain function, combining segregation and integration of components. Brain connectivity can be intuitively represented as graphs, where nodes represent neural elements, ranging in scale from individual cells to large-scale neural populations (e.g., cortical areas) and links, representing structural or functional associations between the nodes. This simplifying approach is based on the assumption that neural elements are intrinsically homogeneous and that their interactions are determined by anatomical connections.

Several types of connectivity can be distinguished (Friston 2004...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Computational Neuroscience, University Medical Center Eppendorf, Hamburg University, Hamburg, Germany

    Claus C. Hilgetag

  2. Department of Health Sciences, Boston University, Boston, USA

    Claus C. Hilgetag

Authors
  1. Claus C. Hilgetag
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Claus C. Hilgetag .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Atlanta, Georgia, USA

    Dieter Jaeger

  2. Department of Biomedical Engineering, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA

    Ranu Jung

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Hilgetag, C.C. (2014). Connectivity Analysis in Normal and Pathological Brains. In: Jaeger, D., Jung, R. (eds) Encyclopedia of Computational Neuroscience. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_532-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-7320-6_532-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-7320-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Biomedicine and Life SciencesReference Module Biomedical and Life Sciences

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