Neuroscience Needs Network Science

Abstract

The brain is a complex system comprising a myriad of interacting neurons, posing significant challenges in understanding its structure, function, and dynamics. Network science has emerged as a powerful tool for studying such interconnected systems, offering a framework for integrating multiscale data and complexity. To date, network methods have significantly advanced functional imaging studies of the human brain and have facilitated the development of control theory-based applications for directing brain activity. Here, we discuss emerging frontiers for network neuroscience in the brain atlas era, addressing the challenges and opportunities in integrating multiple data streams for understanding the neural transitions from development to healthy function to disease. We underscore the importance of fostering interdisciplinary opportunities through workshops, conferences, and funding initiatives, such as supporting students and postdoctoral fellows with interests in both disciplines. By bringing together the network science and neuroscience communities, we can develop novel network-based methods tailored to neural circuits, paving the way toward a deeper understanding of the brain and its functions, as well as offering new challenges for network science.

Keywords: Connectomics; Network Neuroscience; Network Science; NeuroAI; Neurodevelopment; Systems Neuroscience.

Figure 1.

Multiscale interaction in network development, function, and disease. a, Development: Neural connectivity emerges as a function of cell identity, linking network dynamics across modalities and scales. Regulatory networks (top left) underlie cell differentiation, and protein–protein interactions guide morphologic maturation and synaptic specificity (top right). b, Function: Structural connectivity guides the emergent possibilities of functional networks, determining the strength with which one neuron can influence the next (bottom). c, Disease: In a diseased state, failures at multiple network levels lead to perturbed function. Genetic mutations cause disruptions in gene regulatory networks (top left), as well as conformation changes that change protein–protein interactions (top right), potentially leading to loss of synaptic connectivity (dashed neurites). In turn, reduced connection strength between neuron disruptions activity propagation (bottom), providing links between genetic changes and cognitive dysfunction.