A Test of the Accuracy of the Virtual Brain : A Comparison to Becker et al.

Abstract

The creation of the Virtual Brain has the possibility of revolutionizing the way physicians and neuroscientists treat and view TBI and mental diseases. It has the ability to compile data from several clinical tests such EEG, fMRI, MRI, and MEG to create a personalized simulation for each patient allowing for the testing of different treatments including surgical procedure, and the monitoring of decline due to mental disease. However, as with all new procedures, the reliability of the program is in question, therefore it is the aim here to compare the results of running a three node simulation using the SJ3D model in a python based TVB to the results found in in Relating Alpha Power and Phase to Population Firing and Hemodynamic Activity Using a Thalamocortical neural Mass Model by Becker et al when they run a similar experiment using a Matlab based computational method. Determining whether TVB produces the same alpha BOLD regressor as found in Becker et al. can help to establish the reliability of the program, in this aspect. It was determined that TVB did in fact create an almost identical regressor as that found in Becker et al. suggesting that the program is reliable and therefore opening up new doors for treatment, especially in regards to surgical treatment for epilepsy.