Virtual brain modelling of the cerebro-cerebellar loop dynamics with region-specific mean field formalism

Abstract

Motivation: Brain dynamic simulators rely on the same model for each grey matter region. Goal(s): We embed region-specific mean field models (MFs) into virtual brains by designing a flexible framework linking input/output signals from different MFs. Approach: We integrate a recently-developed cerebellar MF into “The Virtual Brain” platform. We simulate brain dynamics with cerebellar MF for cerebellar nodes and connect cerebellar MF input/output with MFs previously used for other regions. Results: The multi-modEl framework is ready to be used with any number of different MFs; moreover, in the cerebellum, using its realistic MF improves 7-folds the correlation between simulated and empirical functional connectivity. Impact: Simulations of brain dynamics rely on assigning the same model to all brain regions, not capturing cortical microcircuits diversities. We developed a framework to connect region-specific mean field models and demonstrated an improved performance in the cerebellum, towards personalized simulations.