Towards a patient-specific examination of epileptogenesis

Summary How can we quantify and model these differences in brain network structures in order to personalise diagnosis and treatment in complex patient-specific diseases such as epilepsy? One direction towards this ultimate goal is to use graph theory and dynamical systems in combination with connectome data to convert brain network structures into matrices.

Project Details

Brain diseases in particular are highly patient specific, as we are all wired differently.  How can we quantify and model these differences in brain network structures in order to personalise diagnosis and treatment in complex patient-specific diseases such as epilepsy? One direction towards this ultimate goal is to use graph theory and dynamical systems in combination with connectome data to convert brain network structures into matrices.  We can then analyse the mathematical structure of these matrices using techniques from random matrix theory, pseudo-spectra and May-Wigner stability to understand why some networks are more pathological (unstable) than others.

This project is quite multi-disciplinary and is suitable for students from maths/physics/engineering interested in neuroscience and neurology.