Demian Battaglia’s home-page
ORCID: 0000-0003-2021-7920 ∙ 🇮🇹 Born 11 June 1978 ∙ Married, two sons ∙ Twitter
Trained in Theoretical Physics, I carry out an interdisciplinary research at the crossroad between Neuroscience, Physics of Complex Systems and Computation and Information Sciences. I am expert in the theoretical and computational analysis of brain circuit dynamics, with emphasis on its role in flexible information processing and routing. My research explores brain network dynamics from the scale of local micro-circuits up to the whole brain, combining spiking and mean-field modelling with sophisticated data analysis. I am particularly interested in characterizing transient collective activity patterns (e.g. coordinated oscillatory bursts, dynamic functional connectivity…) and linking their spatio-temporally (de-)structured dynamics to cognitive and behavioral (dys-)function.
A few research ideas
The “dynome” is richer than the connectome. Even simple structural motifs can give rise to a large number of dynamical states (e.g. different patterns of phase-locking). We find that different states of collective dynamics correspond to different functional connectivity modes1. This result generalizes also to flexible information routing by transient oscillatory bursts2 and to networks up to the whole-brain size3.
At the micro- and meso-scale we have analyzed Local Field Potentials and spike trains to show that the same neurons can perform different primitive computations (carrying, storing, transfering information) at different times and in different states4. Information processing roles are not hardwired, but emerge from dynamic patterns of interaction and coordination with other systems component, structured in both space and time5,6.
At the whole-brain scale, we have described the dynamics of resting-state functional connectivity as a stochastic walk sampling the space of possible network configurations. We found that dynamics of Functional Connectivity (dFC) is fast and temporally structured for young and slower and more random for elderly subjects7. Furthermore, the slowing down of dFC correlates with degradation of cognitive performance at the single subject level8.
We develop complex data representations to faithfully quantify the diversity, heterogeneity and “weirdness” of neural datasets, without averaging. Applications range from the characterization of typical (and atypical!) interneurons9 to the predictive description of synaptic connectivity maps in cerebellum10. We also studied the gender-related misconstruction of the peer-review system11.
Education
2005 PhD in Statistical Physics, at the interface with computer science at SISSA (Trieste, Italy; with Riccardo Zecchina)
2002 Master in Theoretical Physics (Torino, Italy; with Mario Rasetti)
Research positions
Since 2015 CNRS Research faculty (section 26 « Cognitive and Integrative Neuroscience »), first at the Institute for Systems Neuroscience (INS UMR 1106; Aix-Marseille University), then, since 2024, at the Laboratory for Cognitive and Adaptive Neuroscience (LNCA UMR 7364; Strasbourg University)
2009–2014 Staff scientist at the Max Planck Institute for Dynamics and Self-organization and P.I. at the Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience (Göttingen, Germany)
2006–2008 Postdoc in neurocomputational modelling in David Hansel’s and Nicolas Brunel’s lab (Paris, France)
Awards & fellowships
2021–2022 USIAS visiting fellow at Strasbourg University, France
2014–2015 Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellow at Aix-Marseille University, France
2013 Bernstein fellow at the BCCN Göttingen, Germany
☛ full CV (December 2022) ∙ Google Scholar
Me, beyond research
Languages: Italian (mother tongue), English and French (decent), German (so so). One day I’ll learn Spanish. I like hiking and traveling (art and architecture, local history and culture, landscapes), check my personal photo-page. Fond of “classical” music (older and newer) and of musical movies. Cannot speak about religion here (but ask me!).
Ten (+1) selected publications
- Kirst C, Timme M, Battaglia D (2016) Dynamic information routing in complex networks. Nature Communications 7: 11061. doi:10.1038/ncomms11061 (PDF)
- Palmigiano A, Geisel T, Wolf F, Battaglia D (2017) Flexible information routing by transient synchrony. Nature Neuroscience 20: 1014–1022. doi:10.1038/nn.4569 (PDF)
- Hansen ECA*, Battaglia D*, Spiegler A, Deco G, Jirsa VK (2015) Functional connectivity dynamics: modeling the switching behavior of the resting state. NeuroImage 105: 525–535. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2014.11.001 (PDF) [*shared first authorship]
- Douchamps, V., Volo, M. di, Torcini, A., Battaglia, D.* & Goutagny, R.* (2024) Gamma oscillatory complexity conveys behavioral information in hippocampal networks. Nature Communications 15: 1849. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-46012-5 (PDF) [*shared first authorship]
- Voges, N., Lima, V., Hausmann, J., Brovelli, A.* & Battaglia, D* (2023). Decomposing neural circuit function into information processing primitives. Journal of Neuroscience JN-RM-0157-23. doi:10.1523/jneurosci.0157-23.2023. (PDF)
- Clawson W, Vicente AF, Ferraris M, Bernard C, Battaglia D*, Quilichini PP* (2019) Computing hubs in the hippocampus and cortex. Science Advances 5: eaax4843. doi:10.1126/sciadv.aax4843 (PDF) [*shared last authorship]
- Pedreschi N, Battaglia D, Barrat A (2022) The temporal rich club phenomenon. Nature Physics. doi:10.1038/s41567-022-01634-8 (PDF)
- Battaglia D … Ritter P, Jirsa VK (2020) Dynamic Functional Connectivity between order and randomness and its evolution across the human adult lifespan. NeuroImage 222: 117156. doi:10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.117156 (PDF)
- Battaglia D, Karagiannis A, Gallopin T, Gutch HW, Cauli B (2013) Beyond the frontiers of neuronal types. Front Neural Circuits 7: 13. doi:10.3389/fncir.2013.00013 (PDF)
- Spaeth L, Bahuguna J, … Battaglia D*, Isope P* (2022) Cerebellar connectivity maps embody individual adaptive behavior in mice. Nature Communications 13: 580–19. doi:10.1038/s41467-022-27984-8 (PDF) [*shared last authorship]
- Helmer M, Schottdorf M, Neef A, Battaglia D (2017) Gender bias in scholarly peer review. Elife 6: 103. doi:10.7554/eLife.21718 (PDF)
Demian’s news and science
Hippocampal gamma oscillatory complexity is not noise but reflects behavior and learning
Our FunSy paper on gamma oscillatory complexity in hippocampus is out in Nature Comms! The hippocampus and entorhinal cortex exhibit rich oscillatory patterns critical for cognitive functions. In the hippocampal region CA1, specific gamma-frequency oscillations, timed at different phases of the ongoing theta rhythm, are hypothesized to facilitate the integration of information from varied sources and…
Communication through transient and stochastic coherence
Inter-regional oscillatory coherence has been proposed as a mechanism for modulating communication. However oscillations in vivo are transient and fluctuate in time, frequency and phase. In out Nature Neuroscience paper we show that, despite their irregular and stochastic-like properties, oscillatory burst can still subserve flexible and selective routing of information. To reach this conclusion we…
Sampling the « dynome » leads to dynamic Functional Connectivity
Simulations of whole-brain mean-field computational models with realistic connectivity determined by tractography studies enable us to reproduce with accuracy aspects of average Functional Connectivity (FC) in the resting state. Most computational studies, however, did not address the prominent non-stationarity in resting state FC. In our NeuroImage paper, we show that this non-stationarity reveals a rich…
From Event Related Potentials to Event Related Variability
In carefully designed experimental paradigms, cognitive scientists interpret the mean event-related potentials (ERP) in terms of cognitive operations. However, the huge signal variability from one trial to the next, questions the representability of such mean events. In our NeuroImage paper in collaboration with Ghislaine Dehaene (Neurospin, Paris-Saclay), we explored whether this variability is an unwanted…
What if all these different oscillations where entangled in a network of interdependence?
Linking neural activity to sensory, motor or cognitive processes is an ongoing goal in Neuroscience and articular attention has been devoted to the role of brain oscillations, analyzed by averaging over many trials in suitably designed tasks. Previous findings offer a glimpse of the complexity of the overall picture, but have also limitations. First, searching…
Perturbed Information Processing Complexity in Experimental Epilepsy
Usually we think that pathologies, as epilepsy, are associated to disruptions of the neural circuit mediating function. These disruptions certainly exist and are related e.g. to seizure events, which are rare and transient events. On the contrary, comorbidities, such as cognitive deficits, which often accompany epilepsies, constitute a basal state. This suggests that neural dynamics,…
Decomposing neural functions into information processing primitives?
We can easily name brain functions, and we are well informed about brain structure. However, it is not easy to bridge the gap between the two. Part of the problem is that simple circuit mechanisms do not directly give rise to high-level functions. Yet, they already implement simpler forms of information processing, a sort of…
Dynamic before time-averaged Functional Connectivity is destructured in Alzheimer’s Disease
Brain functions emerge from the coordinated dynamics of many brain regions. Dynamic functional connectivity (dFC) analyses are a key tool to describe such dynamic complexity and have been shown to be good predictors of cognitive performance. This is particularly true in the case of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in which an impoverished dFC could indicate compromised…
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The detail of the pattern is movement
T.S. ELIOT, from « Burnt NORTON », V (« FOUR QUARTETS », 1936—1943)
About us
The Functional System’s Dynamics team is an emergent team of the Laboratory for Cognitive and Adaptive Neuroscience (CNRS UMR 7364), within the Interdisciplinary Thematic Institute “NeuroStra” at University of Strasbourg, member of the trinational Neuroscience Upper Rhine network (NEUREX). The team was kickstarted thanks to the support of the University of Strasbourg Institute of Advanced Studies (USIAS).
How to find us
We are located within the building of the Faculty of Psychology, at the ground floor (LNCA wing, to the right, end of the corridor, entering from Rue Goethe side).
LNCA – 12 rue Goethe, F-67000 STRASBOURG
Tramway lines C/E/F – stop « Université » – Bus line 2 (~15 min from central station) – Strasbourg Entzheim airport at ~40 min, high speed train to Paris CDG and Frankfurt / Main international hubs.