Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-kw2vx Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-15T17:37:59.487Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Chapter 1 - Introduction

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 January 2023

By
Rod C. Scott  and
J. Matthew Mahoney
Edited by
Rod C. Scott  and
J. Matthew Mahoney
Rod C. Scott
Affiliation:
University of Vermont
J. Matthew Mahoney
Affiliation:
University of Vermont
Get access

Summary

Complex systems theory is a nebulous field whose overarching goal is to understand the dynamical behavior of systems consisting of many interconnected component parts. It has attracted widespread interest from many domains that study examples of such systems, including ecologists, sociologists, engineers, artificial intelligence researchers, condensed matter physicists, neuroscientists, and many others. The results of these collected, multi-disciplinary efforts have not been so much a comprehensive theory of Complex Systems (capital-C, capital-S), but rather a set of techniques, analogies, and attitudes toward problem solving that emphasize interactions and dynamics over individual components and their functions. The chapters are written in a complex adaptive systems frame and therefore it is useful to provide a provisional theoretical description of such systems. Following Holland [1], a generalizable description of complex adaptive systems is that they are collections of relatively simple agents that have the property that they can aggregate, so that collections of agents can form meta-agents (and meta-meta-agents etc.) with higher-order structure. These aggregates interact nonlinearly, so that the aggregate behavior of a collection of agents is qualitatively different from the behavior of the individual agents. The interactions among agents mediate flows of materials or information. Finally, the agents are typically diverse with distinct specialties that are optimized through adaptation to selective pressures in their environments.

Type
Chapter
Information
A Complex Systems Approach to Epilepsy
Concept, Practice, and Therapy
 , pp. 1 - 4
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Holland, J. H. Hidden Order: How Adaptation Builds Complexity. New York: Basic Books. 1996.Google Scholar
Buck, J., and Buck, E. Synchronous fireflies. Sci Am., 234(5), 74–9, 82–5 (1976). doi:10.1038/scientificamerican0576-74Google Scholar
Sanger, G. F. Beyond isolation: Preferred rates of oscillation, from fireflies to epilepsy. Med Hypotheses, 41(3), 211–14 (1993). doi:10.1016/0306-9877(93)90232-fCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Watts, D. J., and Strogatz, S. H. Collective dynamics of “small-world” networks. Nature, 393(6684), 440–2 (1998). doi:10.1038/30918Google Scholar
Anderson, P. W. More is different: Broken symmetry and the nature of the hierarchical structure of science. Science, 177(4047), 393–6 (1972). www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.177.4047.393Google Scholar
Kauffman, S. A. The Origins of Order: Self Organization and Selection in Evolution. New York: Oxford University Press. (1993).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meadows, D. H. Thinking in Systems: A Primer. Vermont: Chelsea Green Publishing. (2008).Google Scholar
Bar-Tam, Y. Dynamics of Complex Systems. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. (1999). https://necsi.edu/dynamics-of-complex-systemsGoogle Scholar
Wang, F., Xiong, S., Wu, L., et al. A novel TSC2 missense variant associated with a variable phenotype of tuberous sclerosis complex: case report of a Chinese family. BMC Med Genet., 19(1), 90 (2018). Doi:10.1186/s12881-018-0611-zCrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guerrini, R., Cellini, E., Mei, D., et al. Variable epilepsy phenotypes associated with a familial intragenic deletion of the SCN1A gene. Epilepsia, 51(12), 2474–7 (2010). doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2010.02790.xGoogle Scholar
Forslund, M. V., Perrin, P. B., Røe, C., et al. Global outcome trajectories up to 10 years after moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. Front Neurol., 10, 219, (2019). doi:10.3389/fneur.2019.00219Google Scholar
Easley, D., and Kleiburg, J. Networks, Crowds, and Markets. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 2021.Google Scholar
Althoen, S. C., King, L., and Schilling, K. How long is a game of snakes and ladders? Math. Gaz., 77(478), 71–6, (1993). doi:10.2307/3619261Google Scholar
Brodie, M. J. Outcomes in newly diagnosed epilepsy in adolescents and adults: Insights across a generation in Scotland. Seizure, 44, 206–10, (2017). doi:10.1016/j.seizure.2016.08.010CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Turvey, N. Everyone agreed: Cane toads would be a winner for Australia. The Conversation. November 7, 2013. http://theconversation.com/everyone-agreed-cane-toads-would-be-a-winner-for-australia-19881Google Scholar
Peterson, Christine. 25 years after returning to Yellowstone, wolves have helped stabilize the ecosystem. National Geographic. July 10, 2020. www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/yellowstone-wolves-reintroduction-helped-stabilize-ecosystemGoogle Scholar
Newman, M. E. J. Networks: An Introduction, Oxford: Oxford University Press. 2010.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×