After over a century of research, we still do not understand the principle by which a stimulus, such as an odour or a sound, is represented by distributed neural ensembles within the brain; by which an individual is developed by the control of gene networks. While past studies have made detailed analysis of response profiles of single cells and the properties of a single gene in isolation, such techniques and approaches cannot easily address holistic issues of how large ensembles of neurons and genes can integrate information both spatially and temporally. There is little doubt that much of the info processing power of the brain or a gene network resides in the activities of co-operating and competing networks of neurons and genes and that if we unlock the principles whereby info is encoded and processed within these networks as a whole, rather than within single neurones or genes in isolation, we may be able to understand how the brain or gene network works. Our book will contribute to the development of such a study.

During the past decades, we have witnessed the thriving development of new mathematical, computational and theoretical approaches such as bioinformatics and neuroinformatics to tackle some fundamental issues in biology. These scientific approaches focus no longer on individual units, such as nerve cells or genes, but rather on the emerging dynamic patterns of interactions between them. These concentrate on the interplay between the local dynamics and activity transmissions on one side and the global structure of the underlying connection scheme on the other hand.

In this light, the concept of a network emerges as a powerful and stimulating research paradigm in mathematics, physics and computer science, and demonstrates a very lively interaction between experimental findings, simulation studies, and theoretical investigations that then in turn lead to new experimental questions.

This volume explores this concept in full and features contributions from a truly global set of contributors, many of whom are pre-eminent in their respective fields.