Recent advances in network science have generated much progress in our understanding of the structure and function of many networked systems, ranging from transportation networks, to social networks, the internet, ecosystems, and biochemical and gene transcription pathways. Network approaches are also beginning to be applied to the brain, at several levels of scale from cells to entire brain systems. We now know that brain networks exhibit a number of characteristic topological features, including small-world attributes, modularity, and hubs. For the first time, we can relate these structural aspects of brain networks to the brain’s global performance in cognition and behavior. I will review recent work on how complex brain networks are organized, and how their topology constrains and shapes their capacity to process and integrate information. Particular emphasis will be on the structure of the human brain and on what this structure can possibly tell us about human cognition.

 

Video registration (2h08min)

Podcast interview (33min)