Center for the Study of Complex Systems Seminar Series
Job Candidate Talks Nov. 27 and Nov. 29
Nov. 27, 2012
Room 411 West Hall
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Speaker: Danielle Bassett
Sage Junior Research Fellow in Physics and Psychological and Brain Sciences
University if California Santa Barbara
Title: Network Architecture and Predictive Dynamics of Brain Systems
Abstract: The study of complex systems poses significant mathematical
challenges but can simultaneously provide an increased mechanistic
understanding of real-world system function. I focus on recent
developments in network science that have provided methods to
characterize the organization and dynamics of systems that are
composed of many interacting parts. At the interdisciplinary boundary
between applied mathematics, statistical physics, and neuroscience, I
study the human brain as a network of cortical areas connected by
structural or functional highways along which information propagates.
Data acquired from non-invasive neuroimaging techniques has
demonstrated that brain network structure varies between individuals,
can be linked to our IQ and cognitive abilities, displays altered
patterns in disease states like schizophrenia, and changes over time.
A mathematical assessment of these dynamics enables the identification
of network signatures that predict individual differences in cognitive
behaviors such as learning, facilitating a direct feedback loop
between theory and experiment. Using these approaches, we can begin to
determine fundamental organizational principles of both underlying
brain structure and its functional dynamics. Moreover, these results
lay the groundwork for statistical approaches to predict individual
brain responses to injury, disease, and clinical interventions, that
could enable the construction of personalized therapeutics,
diagnostics, and biomarkers for monitoring disease progression and
rehabilitation. In addition to understanding phenomena specific to the
human brain, these studies facilitate the examination of more general
questions about the relationships between system organization – both
static and dynamic – and performance, as well as the influence of
external energetic or spatial constraints on that organization. In
ongoing work, we seek to link brain network dynamics with smaller
scale genetic drivers and larger scale social structures to build a
better understanding of the biophysical constraints on and neural
mechanisms of human decision making and their implications for a
statistical mechanics of human collective phenomena.
Abstract: The study of complex systems poses significant mathematical
challenges but can simultaneously provide an increased mechanistic
understanding of real-world system function. I focus on recent
developments in network science that have provided methods to
characterize the organization and dynamics of systems that are
composed of many interacting parts. At the interdisciplinary boundary
between applied mathematics, statistical physics, and neuroscience, I
study the human brain as a network of cortical areas connected by
structural or functional highways along which information propagates.
Data acquired from non-invasive neuroimaging techniques has
demonstrated that brain network structure varies between individuals,
can be linked to our IQ and cognitive abilities, displays altered
patterns in disease states like schizophrenia, and changes over time.
A mathematical assessment of these dynamics enables the identification
of network signatures that predict individual differences in cognitive
behaviors such as learning, facilitating a direct feedback loop
between theory and experiment. Using these approaches, we can begin to
determine fundamental organizational principles of both underlying
brain structure and its functional dynamics. Moreover, these results
lay the groundwork for statistical approaches to predict individual
brain responses to injury, disease, and clinical interventions, that
could enable the construction of personalized therapeutics,
diagnostics, and biomarkers for monitoring disease progression and
rehabilitation. In addition to understanding phenomena specific to the
human brain, these studies facilitate the examination of more general
questions about the relationships between system organization – both
static and dynamic – and performance, as well as the influence of
external energetic or spatial constraints on that organization. In
ongoing work, we seek to link brain network dynamics with smaller
scale genetic drivers and larger scale social structures to build a
better understanding of the biophysical constraints on and neural
mechanisms of human decision making and their implications for a
statistical mechanics of human collective phenomena.
Nov 29, 2012 NOTE: THURSDAY
NOTE LOCATION: Vandenberg Room at Michigan League
12:00 – 1:00 pm
Nimalan Arinaminpathy
NIH Postdoctoral Fellow in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Princeton University
Title: Diseases and drugs: complexities in the control of contagion
Abstract: Human populations and financial markets have one thing in common: they can both catch and spread infections. Indeed, the last few years have seen ‘pandemics’ in both: the first new human influenza virus of the century, as well as the biggest economic and financial crisis since the Great Depression. Such events make for a topical setting in which to study the dynamics and control of ‘contagion’, in different systems.
Here I will discuss recent and ongoing work in three different contexts. In financial markets, contagion is like an unusual infection that gains in severity and infectiousness, as individuals become more apprehensive: hence the potentially catastrophic effect of market panics. The financial crisis has prompted fresh thinking about these systems; I will discuss recent work that borrows concepts from infectious disease dynamics, and theoretical ecology, to contribute to such thinking.
In the biological context, the dynamics of many human infectious diseases are profoundly shaped by a variety of factors. An important example is pathogen evolution for immune escape (as in the case of influenza virus), and in this context I will describe recent work on the potential impact of emerging vaccine technologies against influenza. Finally, I will discuss ongoing and future work in the role of economic conditions and the availability of essential medicines, in the global control of tuberculosis: a confluence of all three themes in the title of this talk.
