Textbook "Network Neuroscience" by Flavio Frohlich
Flavio wrote the textbook "Network Neuroscience" out of passion for training and mentoring the next generation neuroscientists. You can buy the book on Amazon.
Here is the story about the book in Flavio's own words:
Both as a mentor and teacher, I had realized that there is no easy to digest yet comprehensive textbook to learn about how to study brain networks. In fact, there is no such book at all. To address this gap, I have written Network Neuroscience. The book is based on a popular course that I have developed and taught at UNC at Chapel Hill.
I have originally trained as an electric engineer and found my way into neuroscience via computational neuroscience. When I started my lab at UNC, the challenge I had is that very few junior researchers / student had the required interdisciplinary background to study brain networks and that becoming versed in math as a biologist (or vice versa, for that matter!) is frustrating and time-consuming. This was not only our main challenge to overcome as a research group but also an exciting opportunity to rethink how we train students! I first developed a course Network Neuroscience, in which I piloted many of the ideas and concepts that you now (in a hopefully refined way) encounter in the book.
First, I recognized that there are specific gaps that need to be filled as a function of academic background. For example, if you have never learned how to analyze simple electrical circuits, electrophysiology will for ever remain a challenge! Thus are born the "Toolboxes" in the book. Similarly, if you are a physicist working on a neuroscience project related to let's say depression and you do not know the very basic clinical facts about diagnosis and treatment, you will be challenged to do truly interdisciplinary research and collaborate with clinicians / clinical scientists as you lack "the language". I think you get the idea!
Second, understanding brain networks requires a "multiscale understanding" that includes cellular and synaptic physiology, computational modeling, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, and many more. My idea was to bring together these fields, all focused on understanding brain networks and to provide a unified starting point that can then hopefully act as a starting point for more in-depth exploration in the many excellent books and papers on any one of the topics covered in the book.
Third, my teaching is interactive and I hope that the book can be too! If I am given the chance to work on as second edition, I will make sure to include all your feedback. Please do not hold back and help me improve the book. I would like to hear from you about everything, from typos (I hope none!) all the way to suggestions how to make the next edition better. Thank you! of new chapters!
Both as a mentor and teacher, I had realized that there is no easy to digest yet comprehensive textbook to learn about how to study brain networks. In fact, there is no such book at all. To address this gap, I have written Network Neuroscience. The book is based on a popular course that I have developed and taught at UNC at Chapel Hill.
I have originally trained as an electric engineer and found my way into neuroscience via computational neuroscience. When I started my lab at UNC, the challenge I had is that very few junior researchers / student had the required interdisciplinary background to study brain networks and that becoming versed in math as a biologist (or vice versa, for that matter!) is frustrating and time-consuming. This was not only our main challenge to overcome as a research group but also an exciting opportunity to rethink how we train students! I first developed a course Network Neuroscience, in which I piloted many of the ideas and concepts that you now (in a hopefully refined way) encounter in the book.
First, I recognized that there are specific gaps that need to be filled as a function of academic background. For example, if you have never learned how to analyze simple electrical circuits, electrophysiology will for ever remain a challenge! Thus are born the "Toolboxes" in the book. Similarly, if you are a physicist working on a neuroscience project related to let's say depression and you do not know the very basic clinical facts about diagnosis and treatment, you will be challenged to do truly interdisciplinary research and collaborate with clinicians / clinical scientists as you lack "the language". I think you get the idea!
Second, understanding brain networks requires a "multiscale understanding" that includes cellular and synaptic physiology, computational modeling, cognitive neuroscience, behavioral neuroscience, and many more. My idea was to bring together these fields, all focused on understanding brain networks and to provide a unified starting point that can then hopefully act as a starting point for more in-depth exploration in the many excellent books and papers on any one of the topics covered in the book.
Third, my teaching is interactive and I hope that the book can be too! If I am given the chance to work on as second edition, I will make sure to include all your feedback. Please do not hold back and help me improve the book. I would like to hear from you about everything, from typos (I hope none!) all the way to suggestions how to make the next edition better. Thank you! of new chapters!