Department of Clinical Neurophysiology, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Clin Neurophysiol. 2012 Jun;123(6):1067-87. doi: 10.1016/j.clinph.2012.01.011. Epub 2012 Feb 21.
One of the central questions in neuroscience is how communication in the brain is organized under normal conditions and how this architecture breaks down in neurological disease. It has become clear that simple activation studies are no longer sufficient. There is an urgent need to understand the brain as a complex structural and functional network. Interest in brain network studies has increased strongly with the advent of modern network theory and increasingly powerful investigative techniques such as "high-density EEG", MEG, functional and structural MRI. Modern network studies of the brain have demonstrated that healthy brains self-organize towards so-called "small-world networks" characterized by a combination of dense local connectivity and critical long-distance connections. In addition, normal brain networks display hierarchical modularity, and a connectivity backbone that consists of interconnected hub nodes. This complex architecture is believed to arise under genetic control and to underlie cognition and intelligence. Optimal brain network organization becomes disrupted in neurological disease in characteristic ways. This review gives an overview of modern network theory and its applications to healthy brain function and neurological disease, in particular using techniques from clinical neurophysiology, such as EEG and MEG.
神经科学的核心问题之一是在正常情况下大脑的信息传递是如何组织的，以及这种结构在神经疾病中是如何崩溃的。很明显，简单的激活研究已经不够了。人们迫切需要将大脑理解为一个复杂的结构和功能网络。随着现代网络理论和越来越强大的研究技术（如“高密度 EEG”、MEG、功能和结构 MRI）的出现，人们对脑网络研究的兴趣大大增加。对大脑的现代网络研究表明，健康的大脑会朝着所谓的“小世界网络”自我组织，其特征是密集的局部连接和关键的远距离连接相结合。此外，正常的大脑网络显示出层次模块化，以及由相互连接的枢纽节点组成的连接主干。这种复杂的结构被认为是在遗传控制下产生的，是认知和智力的基础。在神经疾病中，最佳的大脑网络组织会以特征性的方式被打乱。这篇综述概述了现代网络理论及其在健康大脑功能和神经疾病中的应用，特别是使用了临床神经生理学的技术，如 EEG 和 MEG。
