Biological Networks

The Laboratory of Biological Networks aims at increasing the understanding of the structural and functional organization of biological systems using methods from statistical physics, nonlinear dynamics and network science. Our research combines a comprehensive approach mixing analytical treatment with large scale numerical modeling, and a corroboration of the entire body of predictions by means of real data analysis and experiments conducted at our laboratories of Nonlinear Dynamics & Networks and of Neuronal Cultures.

The way an ensemble of units of a system arranges its interactions into a complex topological wiring of connections, or accommodates its dynamics into a collective state, is at the basis of the functioning, performance, robustness and adaptability of a wealth of biological networked systems. Examples include from genes, proteins and metabolites interacting in the cell, to neurons operating collectively in a culture or in the brain. Therefore, it is of the paramount importance to properly frame such systems into unifying concepts and representations, as well as to fully understand the way they organize their topological and dynamical states. Our work is organized into two interrelated areas, focusing on neuronal dynamics at both the micro-(cellular) and macro-scale (whole brain).