Investigation of brain and its functions is one of the most intriguing intellectual tasks of modern science. Leading countries have initiated major brain research programs, the creation of a national neuroscience project in Russia has been also discussed at the state level and is currently under way. In this regard, the attempt to combine the efforts of various scientific disciplines in the search for new approaches to this problem is important and timely. One of the most interesting prospects in this novel area is the view of the brain as a complex physical system accessible to research methods of theoretical physics and mathematics. Taking into account such a point of view, and understanding that brain research is a topic that goes beyond our individual knowledge and skills, we would like to invite scientists working in various fields of theoretical physics, physics of complex systems, and mathematics, to express their views on the potential research directions of the principles of brain structure and functioning and, in a broader context, of higher cognitive functions of the brain.
To initiate the communication, on December 4 and 5, 2019 we are organizing a mini-workshop “Theoretical physics and mathematics of the brain: bridges across disciplines and applications”. The first day (Tuesday) will be held in the Moscow State University, the second day (Wednesday) - in Skoltech. The organizers of this event are: Konstantin Anokhin (Institute for Advanced Brain Studies of the Moscow State University), Alexander Gorsky (IITP RAS), Yuri Kotelevtsev (Center for Neurobiology and Brain Restoration of Skoltech) and Sergei Nechaev (Center Poncelet).
The tentative list of topics of the workshop include:
- Geometric and dynamic properties of brain networks, spreading of excitations on networks
- The brain as a critical system: theoretical and experimental points of view
- Information and entropic aspects of brain functioning
- Topological data analysis, mapping of a connectome into a space of stimuli
- Connectome as a statistical system and its relation to other areas of complex distributed systems
The speakers at the workshop are:
- Konstantin Anokhin (Moscow State University, Moscow)
- Anton Ayzenberg (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)
- Alexander Bernstein (Skoltech, Moscow)
- Roman Borisyuk (University of Exeter, UK)
- Vsevolod Chernyshev (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)
- Alexander Gorsky (Institute for Information Transmission Problems, Moscow)
- Vladimir Itskov (Pennsylvania State University, USA)
- Yakov Kazanovich (Institute of Mathematical Problems of Biology, Pushino)
- Victor Kazantsev (Lobachevsky University, Nizhny Novgorod)
- Alexey Koulakov (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA)
- Sergey Lobov (Lobachevsky University, Nizhny Novgorod)
- Vladimir Nekorkin (Institute of Applied Physics, Nizhny Novgorod)
- Alexey Ossadtchi (Higher School of Economics, Moscow)
- Elena Popova (Skoltech, Moscow)
- Nikita Pospelov (Moscow State University, Moscow)
- Vadim Ushakov (Kurchatov Institute, Moscow)
Slides of the talks can be downloaded from the panel "LINKS & DOWNLOADS" in pdf format
Video of the first day (MSU) is in progress
Video of the second day (Skoltech) can be found below