Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 February 2014
Mathematical and computational neuroscience have contributed to the brain sciences by thestudy of the dynamics of individual neurons and more recently the study of the dynamics ofelectrophysiological networks. Often these studies treat individual neurons as points orthe nodes in networks and the biochemistry of the brain appears, if at all, as someintermediate variables by which the neurons communicate with each other. In fact, manyneurons change brain function not by communicating in one-to-one fashion with otherneurons, but instead by projecting changes in biochemistry over long distances. Thisbiochemical network is of crucial importance for brain function and it influences and isinfluenced by the more traditional electrophysiological networks. Understanding howbiochemical networks interact with electrophysiological networks to produce brain functionboth in health and disease poses new challenges for mathematical neuroscience.