Whole brain modelling for simulating pharmacological interventions on patients with disorders of consciousness.
Communications biology September 19, 2024 I Mindlin, R Herzog, L Belloli et al. 18 citations
Combining whole-brain models with deep learning, researchers mapped the low-dimensional space of patients with disorders of consciousness and simulated pharmacological interventions by altering neuromodulatory levels. Serotonergic and opioid receptor activation shifted the models toward brain dynamics seen in healthier states, with improvements correlating with the mean density of activated receptors across the brain. This approach provides a way to explore therapeutic potential of psychedelic drugs within ethical and methodological constraints, marking progress toward treatments for disorders of consciousness and other brain diseases.