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Sketching a Space of Brain States
Maria Mannone, Patrizia Ribino, Peppino Fazio, Norbert Marwan. Neuroinformatics, 2025-09-02
Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies
Brain functional connectivity alterations, that is, pathological changes in the signal exchange between areas of the brain, are occurring in several neurological diseases, including neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric ones. They consist in changes in how brain functional networks work. By conceptualising a brain space as a space whose points are connectome configurations representing brain functional states, changes in brain network functionality can be represented by paths between these points. Paths from a healthy state to a diseased one, or between diseased states as instances of disease progression, are modelled as the action of the Krankheit-Operator, that produces changes from a brain functional state to another one. This study proposes a formal representation of the space of brain states and presents its computational definition. Moreover, references to patients affected by Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer-Perusini's disease are included for discussing the proposed approach and possible developments of the research toward a generalisation.
Key findings
- They consist in changes in how brain functional networks work.
- By conceptualising a brain space as a space whose points are connectome configurations representing brain functional states, changes in brain network functionality can be represented by paths between these points.
- Paths from a healthy state to a diseased one, or between diseased states as instances of disease progression, are modelled as the action of the Krankheit-Operator, that produces changes from a brain functional state to another one.
- This study proposes a formal representation of the space of brain states and presents its computational definition.
- Moreover, references to patients affected by Parkinson's disease, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer-Perusini's disease are included for discussing the proposed approach and possible developments of the research toward a generalisation.
Why it matters
This study proposes a formal and computational representation of brain states, using paths between connectome configurations to model disease progression, with references to Alzheimer-Perusini's disease among other conditions. It is a conceptual and computational framework and does not report any treatment, cure, or prevention.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 39/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Neuroinformatics) |
| Journal's citation record | 1 / 4 | Neuroinformatics: journal h-index 83 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 4 / 5 | 2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 2 / 7 | Cited 5 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 1 / 5 | 1.7 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025 |
| Impact for its field and year | 2 / 6 | Cited 2.9× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 1 / 4 | Cited 5 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 3 / 4 | Last-listed author Norbert Marwan: h-index 69 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 1 / 3 | National Research Council: institution h-index 840 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 2 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 6 institution(s) in 3 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 40892300) |
| Free to read | 2 / 2 | Free to read |
| Total | 39 / 100 | — |
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Read the original
- DOI: 10.1007/s12021-025-09739-0
- PubMed: 40892300
- Original source →
- Free full text: Neuroinformatics →
Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Mannone, M., Ribino, P., Fazio, P., & Marwan, N. (2025). Sketching a Space of Brain States. Neuroinformatics. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12021-025-09739-0
Vancouver
Mannone M, Ribino P, Fazio P, Marwan N. Sketching a Space of Brain States. Neuroinformatics. 2025. doi:10.1007/s12021-025-09739-0. PMID: 40892300.
BibTeX
@article{mannone2025-40892300,
author = {Mannone, Maria and Ribino, Patrizia and Fazio, Peppino and Marwan, Norbert},
title = {{Sketching a Space of Brain States}},
journal = {Neuroinformatics},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.1007/s12021-025-09739-0},
pmid = {40892300},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1007/s12021-025-09739-0}
}
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