Novel Applications of Bayesian and Other Models in Translational Neuroscience

Book excerpt: It has been proposed that the brain works in a Bayesian manner, and based on the free-energy principle, the brain's main function is to reduce environmental uncertainty; this is a proposed model as a universal principle governing adaptive brain function and structure. There are many pathophysiological, and clinical observations that can be easily explained by predictive Bayesian brain models. However, the novel applications of Bayesian models in translational neuroscience has been understudied and underreported. For example, variational Bayesian mixed-effects inference has been successfully tested for classification studies. A multi-task Bayesian compressive sensing approach to simultaneously estimate the full posterior of the CSA-ODF and diffusion-weighted volumes from multi-shell HARDI acquisitions has been recently publishe