In pursuing academic excellence and innovation, our team was thrilled to participate in the Barcelona Computational, Cognitive, And Systems Neuroscience (BARCSYN) Conference!
The conference brought together experts, researchers, and enthusiasts from the computational neuroscience field to share knowledge, foster collaborations, and explore the forefront of scientific advancements. We had the honor of presenting two unique posters and giving one award-winning presentation at this esteemed gathering, each highlighting a distinct aspect of our research. This blog post aims to give you an insightful glimpse into our experience at BARCSYN and the key takeaways from our poster presentations.
Poster 1: Spherical harmonics-based model of electric field effects on neocortical neurons
Our team presented a novel method for modeling the effects of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) on neurons in the brain. Using spherical harmonics, we achieved a more accurate representation of the membrane perturbation in response to electric fields for different cells. The model was created with synthetic data from realistic neuron simulations and extended to different cell types. Additionally, we introduced an azimuth-independent version for practical non-invasive stimulation simulations. We believe our approach enhances the understanding and applicability of tDCS in research.
Poster 2: Dynamic sensitivity analysis: Assessing brain state transitions via whole brain modeling
Dr Jakub Vohryzek, from our academic partner in the Neurotwin project, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, introduced a “Dynamic Sensitivity Analysis” framework that quantifies transitions between brain states in terms of stimulation ability to rebalance spatio-temporal brain activity towards a target state such as healthy brain dynamics. In practice, it means building a whole-brain model fitted to the spatio-temporal description of brain dynamics and applying systematic stimulations in-silico to assess the optimal strategy to drive brain dynamics toward a target state. With this paradigm they show how Dynamic Sensitivity Analysis extends to various brain stimulation protocols, ultimately contributing to improving the efficacy of personalized clinical interventions.
Presentation: Emergence of complex spatiotemporal oscillations in large-scale brain networks