arXiv subjects

Giampiero Bardella

Publications and source records attributed to Giampiero Bardella.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Lattice Field Theory for a network of real neurons

In a recent paper [Bardella et al., Entropy 26 (6), 495 (2024)] we introduced a simplified Lattice Field Theory (LFT) framework that allows experimental recordings from major Brain-Computer Interfaces (BCIs) to be interpreted in a simple and physically grounded way. From a neuroscience point of view, our method modifies the Maximum Entropy model for neural networks so that also the time evolution of the system is taken into account and it can be interpreted as another version of the Free Energy principle (FEP). This framework is naturally tailored to interpret recordings from chronic multi-site BCIs, especially spike rasters from measurements of single neuron activity.

cond-mat.stat-mech↗

arXiv2024

Lattice physics approaches for neural networks

Modern neuroscience has evolved into a frontier field that draws on numerous disciplines, resulting in the flourishing of novel conceptual frames primarily inspired by physics and complex systems science. Contributing in this direction, we recently introduced a mathematical framework to describe the spatiotemporal interactions of systems of neurons using lattice field theory, the reference paradigm for theoretical particle physics. In this note, we provide a concise summary of the basics of the theory, aiming to be intuitive to the interdisciplinary neuroscience community. We contextualize our methods, illustrating how to readily connect the parameters of our formulation to experimental variables using well-known renormalization procedures. This synopsis yields the key concepts needed to describe neural networks using lattice physics. Such classes of methods are attention-worthy in an era of blistering improvements in numerical computations, as they can facilitate relating the observation of neural activity to generative models underpinned by physical principles.

q-bio.NC↗

arXiv2024

Neural activity in quarks language: Lattice Field Theory for a network of real neurons

Brain-computer interfaces surged extraordinary developments in recent years, and a significant discrepancy now exists between the abundance of available data and the limited headway made in achieving a unified theoretical framework. This discrepancy becomes particularly pronounced when examining the collective neural activity at the micro- and meso-scale, where a coherent formalization that adequately describes neural interactions is still lacking. Here, we introduce a mathematical framework to analyze systems of natural neurons and interpret the related empirical observations in terms of lattice field theory, an established paradigm from theoretical particle physics and statistical mechanics. Our methods are tailored to interpret data from chronic neural interfaces, especially spike rasters from measurements of single neurons activity, and generalize the maximum entropy model for neural networks so that also the time evolution of the system is taken into account. This is obtained by bridging particle physics and neuroscience, paving the way to particle physics-inspired models of neocortex.

q-bio.NC↗

arXiv2016

Hierarchical organization of functional connectivity in the mouse brain: a complex network approach

This paper represents a contribution to the study of the brain functional connectivity from the perspective of complex networks theory. More specifically, we apply graph theoretical analyses to provide evidence of the modular structure of the mouse brain and to shed light on its hierarchical organization. We propose a novel percolation analysis and we apply our approach to the analysis of a resting-state functional MRI data set from 41 mice. This approach reveals a robust hierarchical structure of modules persistent across different subjects. Importantly, we test this approach against a statistical benchmark (or null model) which constrains only the distributions of empirical correlations. Our results unambiguously show that the hierarchical character of the mouse brain modular structure is not trivially encoded into this lower-order constraint. Finally, we investigate the modular structure of the mouse brain by computing the Minimal Spanning Forest, a technique that identifies subnetworks characterized by the strongest internal correlations. This approach represents a faster alternative to other community detection methods and provides a means to rank modules on the basis of the strength of their internal edges.

q-bio.NC↗