Beyond Networks: Functional Connectivity as Eigenmode Resonance

Abstract

The brain’s functional connectivity is typically interpreted through the lens of networks — hubs, modules, and graph-theoretic metrics. But what if these patterns are better understood as the resonant modes of a physical system? In this talk, I will present a wave mechanics framework in which large-scale brain dynamics emerge from the interference of standing waves shaped by the brain’s structural geometry. Drawing on whole-brain modelling, the LEiDA methodology, and empirical neuroimaging data, I will show how eigenmode decomposition captures the spatiotemporal organisation of functional connectivity in a way that challenges purely network-based interpretations. I will discuss implications for understanding brain states, consciousness, and the effects of pharmacological and acoustic perturbations — and what this shift in perspective opens up for the field.