Topic: mathematical models

The brain adjusts its internal activity to direct visual and auditory attention and regulate responses to external stimuli. Appropriate endogenous activity may support normal cognition and behaviour, while its modulation can also produce dysfunction. Beginning with mathematical models of general anaesthesia, this talk examines how changes in noisy endogenous activity can fragment functional brain organization and account for loss of consciousness. Anaesthesia experiments in ferrets support the theoretical result. Further experimental examples are discussed to show how underlying internal noise

SIAM’s computational science and engineering meeting covers mathematical models, scalable algorithms, scientific software, high-performance computing and scientific machine learning. It takes place in Pittsburgh on 22–26 February 2027. Travel-support applications are open until 30 November 2026. Abstract deadlines have passed; registration is scheduled to open in December 2026. The meeting is co-located with ACDA27 and the International Meshing Roundtable.

Jess Enright, Chris Skinner and Erica Thompson explore role-playing and board-game approaches to understanding mathematical models. Examples connect climate, disease spread and water movement with the limitations of simplified representations. The conversation asks how entering a model’s imagined world can communicate research and help researchers reflect on what their assumptions include or leave out.

Codina Cotar discusses mathematical patterns associated with stochastic systems and anomalous diffusion, using entries in a science-and-art competition to explain the ideas. The conversation connects diffusion with familiar materials, quantum phenomena, movement and visual art, and examines how mathematical models inspire creative interpretations of nature.

Liz Fearon describes a project that involves members of the public as equal participants in creating mathematical models. The discussion asks how models used in public-health policy and other decisions can reflect lived experience, social interactions and community priorities. It explores the motivation, working methods and aims of co-production in epidemiological modelling.

Eirik Valseth discusses mathematical models of weather and storm surges and the computations used to make forecasts. Conversation in Norwegian.

Pharmacokinetics in the eye is an important factor for the success of ocular drug delivery and treatment. Pharmacokinetic features determine the feasible routes of drug administration, dosing levels and intervals, and it has impact on eventual drug responses. Several physical, biochemical, and flow-related barriers limit drug exposure of anterior and posterior ocular target tissues during treatment during local (topical, subconjunctival, intravitreal) and systemic administration (intravenous, per oral). Mathematical models integrate joint impact of various barriers on ocular pharmacokinetics

Tom Crawford explores how mathematical models turn questions about the world into equations that can be investigated. Examples range from relativity and infectious-disease modelling to his research on the spread of pollution in the ocean. The lecture also applies modelling to video games, sport and partner selection, illustrating how the same mathematical tools can clarify problems across very different settings.

Carina Curto explains applications of topology to neural recordings and discusses mathematical models of recurrent networks.

Grace Lindsay discusses how mathematical models have shaped explanations of brain function, drawing on her book Models of the Mind.

Every thought is associated with a unique pattern of brain activity. Thus, in principle, it should be possible to use these activity patterns as "brain fingerprints" for different thoughts and to read out what a person is thinking based on their brain activity alone. Indeed, using machine learning considerable progress has been made in such "brainreading" in recent years. It is now possible to decode which image a person is viewing, which film sequence they are watching, which emotional state they are in or which intentions they hold in mind. This talk will provide an overview of the current s

Cross-sectional and longitudinal multimodal brain imaging studies using positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have provided detailed insight into the pathophysiological progression of Alzheimer’s disease. It starts at an asymptomatic stage with widespread gradual accumulation of beta-amyloid and spread of pathological tau deposits. Subsequently changes of functional connectivity and glucose metabolism associated with mild cognitive impairment and brain atrophy may develop. However, the rate of progression to a symptomatic stage and ultimately dementia varies c