Control Strategies in Neural Systems

Neural systems in general—and the human brain in particular—are organized as networks of interconnected components. Across a range of spatial scales from single cells to macroscopic areas, biological neural networks are neither perfectly ordered nor perfectly random. Their heterogeneous organization supports complex activity dynamics while simultaneously constraining such dynamics. How does the network constraint affect the cost of neural activity flow? In this talk, I will use the formalism of network control theory to define a notion of network economy: the idea that a biological neural network's organization partially determines the cost of reaching a neural state, maintaining a neural state, and transitioning between neural states. I will demonstrate how the principle of network economy can inform our study of neural system function in health and disease and provide insight into our experiences as humans with internal mental lives.