Network Modulation in Neuropsychiatric Disorders Using the Virtual Brain

Because individual differences influence the outcome of treatment approaches, the customization of healthcare options for individual patients should improve treatment results. We describe a novel approach to customizing interventions, The Virtual Brian (TVB), which combines individual patient brain structure and connectivity with high-performance computing to develop in silico platforms of brain function on which personalized strategies for therapy and intervention can be tested. With a focus on major depressive disorder (MDD), we highlight the rationale for using this computational approach in psychiatric disorders to characterize disease mechanisms and map these characterizations to treatment predictions.