BrainComplexes

The primary objective of BrainComplexes (From connectomes to continua: new complexes in brain multiphysics) is to establish a scale-bridging framework for brain multiphysics by developing the computational foundations and numerical technology required to solve coupled partial differential equations (PDEs) on multilayer simplicial complexes.

The human brain is a beautifully complicated multiphysics system. When studying brain electrophysiology – the "wiring and firing" of the brain – neuroscientists classically model it using discrete graphs, or connectomes. But to describe the physical brain – its waves of fluid flow, the poromechanics of the tissue, and the transport of ions and solutes – our models typically use partial differential equations (PDEs) defined over a continuum. Today, there is a distinct gap between these two mathematical worlds. BrainComplexes aims to bridge it. 

This project represents the next step in a longer-term research programme within Scientific Computing at Simula that moves from mathematical foundations to translational medical research and clinical application, and now, returning to new abstractions.

Funding

This project is funded by the Research Council of Norway through the FRIPRO portfolio for ground-breaking research