BIONIC: Algorithm Development and Network Discovery

In this talk, Dr. Dora Hermes explains how neurology is moving beyond identifying isolated brain regions toward understanding whole‑brain networks—a shift that is transforming how we diagnose, map, and treat neurological disease. Using patients with intracranial electrodes, her team applies tiny single‑pulse stimulations to trace how signals travel through the brain’s pathways, allowing researchers to map information flow with unprecedented precision. Dr. Hermes outlines several computational frameworks—including hypothesis‑driven, divergent, and convergent paradigms—that reveal how different brain areas influence one another. She describes new algorithms such as canonical response parameterization and basis‑profile curve identification, designed to capture the complexity of these pathways and extract biomarkers tied to specific diseases like epilepsy, movement disorders, addiction, and mood conditions. [2025-BIONI...Develop-V1 | Txt] Her lab also contributes to major data‑science standards like BIDS (Brain Imaging Data Structure), ensuring multimodal neural data—ECoG, EEG, SEEG, MEG, MRI, PET—can be harmonized, automatically processed, and fed into scalable network‑analysis pipelines. This standardization allows consistent comparisons across patients and diseases. Dr. Hermes then demonstrates how stimulation‑based mapping uncovers pathway speeds, developmental trajectories, and direct vs. indirect routes in the human brain. For example, by stimulating parietal cortex and measuring frontal responses across ages 10–50, her team shows that white‑matter transmission speed increases into the 30s and 40s—mirroring prolonged human myelination. They also identify characteristic long‑latency signals (≈200 ms) that reveal multi‑synaptic network pathways, such as connections from hippocampus through the fornix and mammillothalamic tract to posterior cingulate. The talk culminates with precise pulvinar mapping, showing how different subregions of this thalamic structure connect to early visual, temporal, or parietal networks—critical for improving seizure‑modulation strategies in epilepsy. These findings illustrate how high‑resolution stimulation + advanced algorithms can guide individualized targeting for neuromodulation therapies. Overall, Dr. Hermes presents a roadmap for a future where network‑aware biomarkers, dynamic routing maps of the brain, and automated data science tools bring personalized neuromodulation into routine clinical practice. 00:00 Welcome & Introduction to Dr. Dora Hermes 00:55 From Brain Localization to Network-Based Discovery 01:43 Maps vs Routing: Toward Dynamic Brain Network Models 02:33 Single-Pulse Stimulation: Probing Information Flow 03:32 Frameworks: Hypothesis-Driven, Divergent & Convergent Mapping 04:36 Algorithms for Network Discovery (CRP & Basis-Profile Curves) 05:39 Data Science Foundations: BIDS & Standardized Multimodal Data 07:01 Measuring Human Transmission Speeds Across White Matter Pathways 08:08 Developmental Trajectories: Latency & Myelination Across Ages 10:41 Direct vs Indirect Routes: Identifying Multi-Synaptic Pathways 12:04 Pulvinar Network Mapping & Personalized Neuromodulation Targets 15:58 Summary: Routing Maps, Biomarkers & Clinical Translation From Mayo Clinic to your inbox (free): https://www.mayoclinic.org/patient-visitor-guide/newsletters Visit Mayo Clinic: https://www.mayoclinic.org Connect with Mayo Clinic: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mayoclinic Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mayoclinic X: https://x.com/MayoClinic Threads: https://www.threads.net/@mayoclinic