Spreading Processes in Complex Networks of Cultured Neurons and Society
von Franz Paul Spitzner
Datum der mündl. Prüfung:2023-09-19
Erschienen:2023-12-22
Betreuer:Prof. Dr. Viola Priesemann
Gutachter:Dr. Andreas Neef
Gutachter:Prof. Dr. Peter Sollich
Dateien
Name:thesis_23-11-06_double_page_ediss.pdf
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Zusammenfassung
Englisch
Complex networks appear across various contexts of our lives. Telecommunication, transport, infrastructure and finance are candidates to come to mind, and we humans ourselves, just going about our day as usual, meeting others, create a complex network of contacts. Also in our bodies, we can find intricate complex networks, not just of metabolic and molecular interactions, but in a structural sense. As a particular example, consider the human brain, where the cortex alone is built of 16 × 10^9 neurons, forming far-from-random structures. These networks can form a backbone on which spreading processes unfold, and, in many cases, structural heterogeneities of this backbone alter the spreading dynamics compared to a homogeneous network. In this thesis, we discuss two examples where particular structural aspects of a network interplay with a spreading process to give rise to remarkable emergent dynamics: i) As a well-controlled neuronal system, we consider in vitro cultures of cortical neurons that are engineered to feature a modular topology. Notably, in neuronal systems, the network structure is not only the backbone of activity propagation but also represents a form of information storage, as memories are formed through long-lasting changes of the connection strength between neurons. One could say structure is knowledge. ii) As an example of disease spread on a human contact network, we explore face-to-face contact data of university students and study the interplay of contact patterns and disease progression. In both examples, our models go beyond a spreading process unfolding on a static network. We take into account that the spreading dynamics are not isolated and find that interactions with the environment can lead to unforeseen emergent dynamics.
Keywords: Spreading process; Complex networks; Phase transition; Heterogeneity; Contact networks; In vitro cultures; Non-Markovian dynamics