Abstract

A neat feature of connected systems is how they are easily conceptualized as networks: simple mathematical abstractions whose properties can succinctly tell us plenty about whichever system they are describing. This approach lends itself beautifully to the characterization of human brain structure and function, where brain regions are taken as network nodes, and the time varying dependencies in activity (or physical connections) between them as edges.

In this talk I will start by briefly sharing some of the most important ideas we have learnt about ‘brain networks’ in the last two decades and what they tell us about the otherwise intractable nature of the nervous system. I will then elaborate on newer techniques aiming to understand why brain networks look the way they look, how they evolve across the first few decades of life, and what this might tell us about the emergence of mental ill-health.