Neurosalience Episode 12. Alex Fornito: A Connectomic Perspective of the Brain.

By Peter Bandettini & the OHBM Neurosalience production team

Professor Alex Fornito

In this episode of NeuroSalience, Peter chats with Alex about connectomics, or the study of the brain’s networks of connections. We discuss Alex’s work leveraging the Allen Brain Atlas (https://portal.brain-map.org/) and fMRI to better understand the genetic basis of the network structure. He points out clear differences between network hubs and other network components, with hubs having important roles in resting state dynamics and in neurological disorders. We also discuss the ongoing challenge of removing physiological noise from the fMRI signal in the context of his new and powerful methods for dissecting it out. Last, we touch on the new iteration of the OHBM virtual platform that Alex was instrumental in developing. 

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Guests: 
Alex Fornito, Ph.D. is a leader, educator, and innovator in the field of brain imaging. A major emphasis of his work concerns understanding foundational principles of brain organization and their genetic basis; characterizing brain connectivity disturbances in psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia; and mapping how brain networks dynamically reconfigure in response to changing task demands. 

He is currently a Sylvia and Charles Viertel Foundation Senior Research Fellow, Professor of Psychological Sciences, and Head of the Brain Mapping and Modelling Research Program at the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health. He also leads his Neural Systems and Behavior Lab at Monash University.  

He completed his Clinical Masters (Neuropsychology) and PhD in 2007 in the Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology at The University of Melbourne before undertaking Post-Doctoral training in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge, UK, under the auspices of an NHMRC Training Fellowship. 

He has co-authored an outstanding book (with Andrew Zalesky and Ed Bullmore)  on network neuroscience, titled “Fundamentals of Brain Network Analysis.” He has collaborators all over Europe, the US, and Canada, and is an active member of OHBM, where he has been instrumental in establishing the virtual platform for the meeting. 
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The Neurosalience production team consists of Anastasia Brovkin, Katie Moran, Nils Muhlert, Kevin Sitek, and Rachael Stickland.