Bioinformatics of the

Brain

The brain consisting of billions of neurons is probably the most complex and

mysterious organ of the body. Understanding the functioning of the brain in

its health and disease states has baffled the researchers working in this area

for many years. The diversity of brain diseases and disorders makes the analy-

sis of brain functions an even more challenging area of research. In vitro and

in vivo studies regarding the brain may be laborious, however, bioinformatics

using in silico approaches may take the burden off the experimental studies

and give us a clearer perspective on disease and healthy states of the brain, its

functions, and disease mechanisms.

Recent advancements in neuroimaging technologies, the development of

high-performance computers and the development of software, algorithms

and methods to analyze data obtained from various neuroimaging processes

have opened new frontiers in neuroscience enabling unprecedented finer analy-

sis of the brain functions. This relatively new approach of brain analysis which

may be termed Bioinformatics of the Brain is the main subject of this volume

aiming to provide a thorough review of various bioinformatics approaches for

analyzing the functioning of the brain and understanding brain diseases such as

neurodegenerative diseases, brain tumors, and neuropsychiatric disorders. Au-

thors from various disciplines in this volume each focus on a different aspect

aiming to expand our understanding of this area of research. Topics included are:

Brain diseases and disorders

Stem cell therapy of neurodegenerative diseases

Tissue engineering applications of gliomas

Brain tumor detection and modeling

Brain tumor growth simulation

Brain-computer interface

Bioinformatics of brain diseases

Graph-theoretical analysis of complex brain networks

Brain proteomics

This book is intended to aid scientists, researchers, and graduate students

in carrying out interdisciplinary research in the areas of bioinformatics, bio-

engineering, computer engineering, software engineering, mathematics, molecu-

lar biology, genetics, and biotechnology.