Queensland Institute for Medical Research, Australia Presentation Topic: Dwelling Quietly in the Rich Club: Brain Network Determinants of Slow Cortical Fluctuations                                                                                                                                                                                                                  Abstract: The relationship between the fast time scales of neuronal dynamics and the slow fluctuations of mood and affect have not yet found full theoretical explanation. Recent analyses of brain network topology has shown that the regions involved in the regulation of mood and introspection belong to a topological core of the brain known as the rich club – a constellation of densely interconnected regions that form the structural backbone of the brain. Computational models predict that the local network topology of this constellation of brain regions – which include the anterior insula, thalamus, amygdala and precuneus – support slowly fluctuating patterns of sychronization. In contrast, the local network topology of the surrounding “feeder” cortical regions are predicted to show rapidly fluctuating and unstable dynamics. I will hence propose that these network properties of central cortical regions are the structural determinants of the slowly fluctuating changes in neuronal dynamics in these brain regions. These time scales are ideally suited to the regulation of internal visceral states, corresponding to the somatic correlates of mood and anxiety. I will end by reviewing recent analyses of resting state fMRI data from subjects with melancholia that support this proposal.                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Bio: Professor Michael Breakspear is the Coordinator of the Mental Health and Complex Disorders Program at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR) and a consultant psychiatrist at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. He trained in medicine and physics at the University of Sydney before completing his specialist training in psychiatry at St Vincent’s Hospital. He moved to QIMR in 2009 to become the inaugural program coordinator of mental health and complex disorders. He leads a multidisciplinary research team whom undertake psychiatric and imaging research aimed at improving diagnosis and treatment in clinical psychiatry.