A class of mean-field models to bridge molecular to brain scales

Predicting how molecular changes affect large-scale brain activity is a difficult task because of the lack of appropriate methods to link scales. In this perspective, we review a class of mean-field models that can integrate biophysical details such as synaptic receptors or membrane ion channels. This leads to a multi-scale modeling approach that can be used to evaluate how microscopic changes can impact macroscopic brain activity. This approach is illustrated here for the case of anesthesia, where changes at the level of specific synaptic receptors can lead to a global change in brain activity and a disconnection from external inputs. This is only possible using mean-field models that can include enough detail about the microscopic biophysical properties. This biophysically-based mean-field approach could be generalized to study cellular or molecular origins of brain diseases, or to better understand how drugs acting at microscopic scales can influence global brain activity. Biophysical mean-field models also link different fields of neuroscience, from molecular studies to brain imaging.

Source: arXiv:2608.11185v1 - http://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11185v1 PDF: https://arxiv.org/pdf/2608.11185v1 Original Link: http://arxiv.org/abs/2608.11185v1