[FieldTrip] Call for participation Neural Synchronization Frontiers Topic

[GUEVARA ERRA RAMON MARIANO]

Dear potential authors on the fieldtrip mailing list,

This is a call for participation at a special issue (Frontiers Topic) on
neural synchronization, that we are currently editing:

'Large-scale neural synchronization and coordinated dynamics: a
foundational approach'

Web site:
http://journal.frontiersin.org/researchtopic/4079/large-scale-neural-synchronization-and-coordinated-dynamics-a-foundational-approach




Description:


A fundamental question in neuroscience is how segregation and integration
of information takes place by the temporal coordination of differentiated,
specialized brain areas. Neural synchronization is often invoked as a
mechanism of coordinated activity, and in the last ten years there has been
a great effort to understand its significance, to clarify its physiological
and computational roles and its relationship with brain rhythms and
abnormal brain functioning (as in epilepsy or Parkinson’s disease).

But in a broader sense, synchronization is an old concept, arising from the
studies of oscillators in non-linear dynamics. It is indeed a widespread
phenomenon, reflecting the coupling between self-oscillating units.
However, the association between coupling and coordinated activity is not
completely understood in the context of brain dynamics, most critically
when this relationship is extended to large networks of interacting
neurons. What do we mean when we use the term ‘synchronization’ in
neuroscience? How can we measure physical coupling when real experiments
can only tell us about temporal statistical correlation? Can we freely use
concepts from oscillation theory to describe brain dynamics?

In this Research Topic we welcome contributions from different backgrounds
and perspectives to promote a deeper understanding of the relationship
between neural synchronization and physical coupling between neuronal
networks, and its implications for functional connectivity in the normal
and the pathological brain. This topic will include, among others,
contributions with the following themes:
1) Foundations of large-scale neural synchronization, based on physical
theories of oscillation.
2) The computational role and metabolic cost of neural synchronization, and
its relation to brain rhythms.
3) Behavioral and cognitive consequences of oscillatory activity in the
human brain.
4) Synthesis and state-of-the-art on measuring neural synchronization in
experimental settings.
5) Recent methods for the reconstruction of connectivity in oscillatory
networks.
6) Applications of the concept of neural coupling and oscillatory activity
in a medical setting, such as monitoring and control of neural
synchronization in brain pathologies affecting coordination dynamics.



Looking forward to have your contributions. Those interested please write
to

Ramon Guevara (guevara.erra at gmail.com <guevara.erra at gamil.com>)



Best wishes,

Ramon Guevara Erra

University Paris Descartes, Paris, France

Jose Luis Perez Velazquez

Hospital for Sick Children and University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada
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