Research | Baycrest

Program and Speakers

Neural Dynamics and Brain Health Conference and Workshop

Conference
Our conference will present cutting-edge research on basic neural mechanisms informed by structural and functional neuroimaging. This year's broad theme discusses healthy and impaired brain function across the lifespan and features research on several disorders that affect the lives and well-being of millions of people within Canada and worldwide.

Sessions will cover:

  • Comprehensive descriptions of neural dynamics across the lifespan in health and disease
  • Exclusive insight into how brain simulation of brain damage caused by disorders, such as epilepsy or stroke, can guide treatment
  • Avenues for healthy brain aging: the effect of exercise and music on the brain.

Please note: For the two-day conference, registrants are expected to make their own lunch arrangements. For the post-conference workshop at Baycrest, lunch will be provided.

Workshop
Researchers from different backgrounds will learn the nuts and bolts of this one-of-a-kind, open-source neuroinformatics platform, The Virtual Brain (TVB). This simulation environment will assist researchers in studying the brain and potential treatments for various neurological disorders. This is a rare opportunity to learn directly from TVB founders and hear about their latest advances in using this technology.

Schedule

8:00 a.m. Registration & breakfast
8:45 a.m. Welcoming Remarks
Dr. William Reichman
, President and CEO, Baycrest Health Sciences
9:00 a.m. Opening Keynote Presentation
Network Neuroscience: New Approaches to Mapping and Modeling Brain Networks
,
Dr. Olaf Sporns, Indiana University, USA
 

Neural Dynamics: Understanding Brain Function (and Dysfunction)

10:00 a.m. Bridging Multiple Scales in the Human Brain using Computational Modeling
Dr. Petra Ritter
, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany
10:30 a.m. Refreshment break
11:00 a.m. Cooperative and Competitive Spreading Dynamics in Human Brain Networks
Dr. Bratislav Misic
, McGill University, Canada
11:30 a.m. Connectomic Insights into Psychiatric Disorders
Dr. Susan Whitfield-Gabrieli
, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA
12:00 p.m. Lunch break
 

Neural Dynamics in Brain Development

1:15 p.m. The Complexity of Neurodevelopment
Dr. Sarah Lippé
, University of Montreal, Canada
1:45 p.m. Neural Dynamics in Typical and Atypical Development
Dr. Margot J. Taylor
, The Hospital for Sick Children, Canada
2:15 p.m. Refreshment break
2:45 p.m. Pediatric Neuroimaging Grows Up: Large Scale Imaging Initiatives to Study the Developing Brain
Dr. Michael Milham
, Child Mind Institute, USA
 

Neural Dynamics and Lifestyle

3:15 p.m. Neural Dynamics and Physical Activity in Aging
Dr. Jennifer Heisz
, McMaster University, Canada
3:45 p.m. Refreshment break
4:15 p.m. Music and Movement
Dr. Jessica Grahn
, Western University, Canada
4:45 p.m. Promoting Successful Aging through Music Making
Dr. Claude Alain
, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences
5:15 to 6:15 p.m. Moderated poster session

Please note - each presenter will leave 5 minutes for a Question & Answer period following their presentation.

8:30 a.m. Breakfast
 

Memory and Aging

9:00 a.m. Memory, Systems for Navigation
Dr. Hugo Spiers
, University College London, United Kingdom
9:30 a.m. Variability as Signal in the Study of Human Aging and Cognition
Dr. Doug Garrett
, Max Planck Institute for Human Development, Germany
10:00 a.m. Age Differences in Dynamic Functional Brain Activity
Dr. Cheryl Grady
, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences
10:30 a.m. Refreshment break
 

Intervention

11:00 a.m. Dynamic Connectivity in Rest fMRI are Replicable and Real: Approaches, Examples and Extensions to Multimodal Data Fusion
Dr. Vince Calhoun
, The Mind Research Network, USA
11:30 a.m. Targeting Memory Networks with Noninvasive Brain Stimulation
Dr. Joel Lawrence Voss
, Northwestern University, USA
12:00 p.m. Lunch break
1:15 p.m. Measuring Brain Physiology using Resting-state fMRI
Dr. Jean Chen
, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences
1:45 p.m. Towards the Individualized Treatment of Stroke
Dr. Ana Solodkin
, UC Irvine Health, USA
2:15 p.m. Virtual Brain Modeling in Epilepsy
Dr. Viktor Jirsa
, The Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, France
2:45 p.m. Refreshment break
3:15 p.m. Commentary on Brain Dynamics Research and Avenues for the Future
Dr. Viktor Jirsa
, The Institut de Neurosciences des Systèmes, France
3:30 to 4:00 p.m. Closing Keynote Presentation
Why Dynamics are Vital for Brain Health
Dr. Randy McIntosh
, Rotman Research Institute, Baycrest Health Sciences

Please note - each presenter will leave 5 minutes for a Question & Answer period following their presentation.

The Virtual Brain: Node 4 - Training Workshop
(Please note that this workshop has very limited capacity.)

Baycrest Health Sciences, The Jacob Family Theatre at the Posluns Auditorium
3560 Bathurst Street, Toronto, ON

In this workshop, we will explain the fundamental principles of full brain network modelling using The Virtual Brain (TVB). This simulation environment enables the biologically realistic modelling of network dynamics using Connectome-based approaches across different brain scales. Configurable brain network models generate macroscopic neuroimaging signals, including functional MRI (fMRI), intracranial and stereotactic EEG, surface EEG and MEG for single subjects. Researchers from different backgrounds can benefit from an integrative software platform, including a supportive framework for data management (including data generation, organization, storage, integration and sharing) and a simulation core written in Python.

The topics covered include:
• Introduction to whole-brain modelling
• Introduction to The Virtual Brain
• Data processing and datatypes
• Region-based modelling
• Surface-based modelling
• Multi-modal integration (E.g. Obtaining simultaneous EEG, fMRI-simulated recordings)
• Specific modelling of clinical relevance:  Structural (lesions) and functional (epilepsy) modelling

TVB’s architecture supports interaction with MATLAB packages, such as the well-known Brain Connectivity Toolbox.

Workshop goals:
The post-conference workshop will be a highly interactive day of lectures and hands-on experience designed to train individuals in the techniques and computing/software environments needed to run The Virtual Brain (TVB) independently.

Workshop format: 
Combining lectures with hands-on tutorials, session instructors will lead attendees through the ways TVB can be used to simulate the brains of various brain disorders and for understanding how local brain damage can result in distributed functional changes.

Attendees are asked to come prepared with personal laptops, installed with the most recent version of TVB. TVB software is available at: www.thevirtualbrain.org.

Workshop Schedule

8:00 a.m. Coffee & welcome Dr. Randy McIntosh
9:15 a.m. A Generative Model of the Brain: Describing the Building Blocks of a Brain Network Model Dr. Viktor Jirsa
10:45 a.m. Coffee break  
11:00 a.m. Interacting with TVB
A guided tour through the web, command line interfaces and TVB functionality
Tanya Brown
12:30 a.m. Lunch break  
1:30 p.m. How to obtain a TVB-Friendly Dataset
Tutorial: Data Pipeline and Import
Dr. Petra Ritter
2:45 p.m. Modeling Brain Networks at Rest
Tutorial: Anatomy of A Region Simulation, Exploring a Model, Exploring The Bold Monitor. (HANDS ON)
Dr. John Griffiths
3:30 p.m. Coffee break  
4:00 p.m. Modeling The Impact of Structural Lesions
Tutorial: Modeling Structural Lesions.
Dr. Ana Solodkin
4:45 p.m. Modeling Epilepsy
Tutorial: Patient specific modeling of partial seizure propagation.
Dr. Viktor Jirsa
5:30 p.m. Closing remarks Dr. Randy McIntosh

 

Session Descriptions

A Generative Model of the Brain: Describing the Building Blocks of a Brain Network Model 
The aim of this lecture is to:
• Explain the basic principles and assumptions underlying a brain network model;
• Discuss recent studies using different local models (e.g, Linear model, planar oscillator, Kuramoto oscillator, Jansen and Rit model, Wilson-Cowan model);
• Understand the advantages and limitations of each local model;
• Describe cortical connectivity and how the dynamical units of a brain network model are linked;
• Introduce an approximation to neural field modelling.

Interacting with TVB
During this practical course, you will learn how to build a brain network model and run simulations. A description of the supporting framework functionalities (project management, database, multi-user configuration, import/export functions) will be provided. The main working areas of the web interface will be described and attendees are encouraged to follow the presentation on their laptops.

TVB can be used as a toolbox from a Python interpreter and MATLAB. An introduction to the command line or scripting interface will be presented. The session will cover how to:
• Design a region-based model;
• Explore the local model dynamics (phase plane);
• Perform parameter space explorations to display an overview of the different collective dynamics regimes;
• Set up the brain network model to obtain functional data (E.g. fMRI, EEG etc.);
• Make a differential analysis between simulations, such as with or without noise;
• Design surface-based simulations and define the local connectivity structure of the cortex.

How to Obtain a TVB-Friendly Dataset
TVB has a collection of readers that enable the user to load the various data formats in neuroimaging. However, subject specific modelling heavily relies on structural data and the precise structures that can be extracted from them. In this talk, we will provide a description of a complete dataset and present a pipeline to obtain data that can be uploaded and accommodated into TVB Datatypes. The educational TVB package (EduPack) will be presented.

Modeling Brain Networks at Rest
This session covers the first of three concrete applications of TVB by providing an introduction to resting-state modelling with TVB. A concrete resting state brain model will be built that will illustrate its dynamics.

Modeling the Impact of Structural Lesions
This session covers the second concrete application of TVB by providing an introduction to studying the effects of chronic strokes with TVB. In this session, we will go through a simulation protocol where the connectome is the “parameter” that changes in the model.  Two structural connectivity matrices be will be used: one from a control patient and one from a stroke patient. Lesions will be introduced into the brain network model that will illustrate its properties.

Modeling Epilepsy
This session covers the third concrete application of TVB by providing an introduction to a specific local model that explains the nature of seizure dynamics. A concrete example of an epileptic brain will be built for a particular patient and seizure propagation through the network will be simulated.