Vulnerable hubs in human brain networks: A new approach to neurological disease

A guiding principle in brain injury research and rehabilitation is to use location and size of brain lesion as a primary predictor of the extent of dysfunction. For outcomes averaged over a group of patients and for simple actions the generality holds. In practice, however, lesion size and location fail to completely explain the full extent of the deficits and/or recovery of an individual, especially when it comes to the more complex behaviors supported by interactions of cognitive abilities. It does not take a complex cognitive network to move a finger on command, but it does require the coordinated effort of many networks to successfully shop for groceries or socialize at a family gathering. This team will apply the theory and mathematics of network science to better characterize the impact of lesions and the effect of such lesions in individual patients. In particular, this collaborative research effort expects to identify “hubs” that are especially vulnerable to injury that results in widespread effects by disrupting coordinated cognitive processes in multiple functional systems or networks.