European Conference on Mathematical and Theoretical Biology (ECMTB 2026)

Novel methods for analyzing dynamics of functional brain networks: complex correlation patterns defining a robust functional architecture

16 Jul 2026, 14:20

20m

11.01 - HS (University of Graz)

Contributed Talk Neuroscience and Neural Systems Contributed Talks

Speaker

Maria Ercsey-Ravasz (1. Physics Department of the Babes-Bolyai University; 2. Transylvanian Institute of Neuroscience, Cluj-Napoca, Romania)

Description

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) provides insights into cognitive processes with significant clinical potential. However, delays in brain region communication and dynamic variations are often over-looked in functional network studies. In our \cite{CellSystems} paper we demonstrated that networks extracted from fMRI cross-correlation matrices considering time lags between signals show remarkable reliability when focusing on statistical distributions of network properties, instead of analyzing a single averaged functional network. This reveals a robust brain functional connectivity pattern, featuring a sparse backbone of strong 0-lag correlations and weaker links capturing coordination at various time delays. This dynamic yet stable network architecture is consistent across rats, marmosets, and humans, as well as in electroencephalogram (EEG) data, indicating potential universality in brain dynamics. Validation using alcohol use disorder fMRI data uncovers broader shifts in network properties than previously reported, demonstrating the potential of this method for identifying disease biomarkers. We also have freely available software \cite{Protocol} for analyzing datasets: extracting functional networks, examining their properties, comparing different groups, extracting the most important functional regions in case of a comparison, and more.

Bibliography

@article{CellSystems,
title = {Brain Dynamics Supported by a Hierarchy of Complex Correlation Patterns Defining a Robust Functional Architecture},
author = {Varga, Levente and Moca, Vasile V. and Molnár, Botond and Perez-Cervera, Laura and Selim, Mohamed Kotb and Díaz-Parra, Antonio and Moratal, David and Péntek, Balázs and Sommer, Wolfgang H. and Mureșan, Raul C. and Canals, Santiago and Ercsey-Ravasz, Maria},
date = {2024-08-21},
journaltitle = {Cell Systems},
volume = {15},
number = {8},
pages = {770-786.e5},
publisher = {Elsevier},
issn = {2405-4712},
doi = {10.1016/j.cels.2024.07.003},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cels.2024.07.003},
urldate = {2026-03-12}
}

@article{Protocol,
title= {Protocol to study brain dynamics of mammals through the hierarchy of complex correlation patterns defining a robust functional architecture},
authors={Varga L, Péntek B, Molnár B, Perez-Cervera L, Selim MK, Díaz-Parra A, Moratal D, Sommer WH, Canals S, Mureșan RC, Moca VV, Ercsey-Ravasz M.},
journaltitle= {STAR Protoc.},
date= {2025-06-20},
volume={6},
number={(2)},
pages={103693},
doi= {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xpro.2025.103693},
Epub = {2025-03-21},
PMID= {40120114},
PMCID= {PMC11976250}.
}