MIBE Seminar: Quantifying Cortical Integration and Segregation for Functional Brain State Characterization.

Topic: Quantifying Cortical Integration and Segregation for Functional Brain State Characterization.

Speaker: Silviu Bodea, Doctoral Candidate (Westmeyer Group)

Date and Time: Tuesday, 19 July 2022, 1:00 pm

Abstract: In order to function in highly dynamic environmental conditions, mammals must integrate sensations, memories, projections of the future, and motor commands. The ability of the brain to process sensory information is largely dependent on the functional state of cortical networks. In spite of this, there is no universally accepted definition of functional brain states. We explored information integration and segregation in pyramidal neuron networks in different functional brain states which we reproducibly induce with psychoactive drugs. Brain activity was recorded with a wide-field fluorescence imaging setup in mice expressing GCaMP6s in pyramidal neurons under CaMKII control. We developed a measure of cortical network segregation, brain pattern dimensionality (BPD), which allows us to quantify functional brain states and track their transitions. We show that global changes in cortical excitability underlie brain state changes from sedation to anesthesia. Having these quantitative descriptors is the first step toward building theoretical models of the brain network. Such models could predict how perturbations will affect functional brain network activity and may help identify the most promising interventions for the treatment of systems-level brain disease.