title: Small-world directed networks in the human brain: multivariate Granger causality analysis of resting-state fMRI.
abstract: Small-world organization is known to be a robust and consistent network architecture, and is a hallmark of the structurally and functionally connected human brain. However, it remains unknown if the same organization is present in directed influence brain networks whose connectivity is inferred by the transfer of information from one node to another. Here, we aimed to reveal the network architecture of the directed influence brain network using multivariate Granger causality analysis and graph theory on resting-state fMRI recordings. We found that some regions acted as pivotal hubs, either being influenced by or influencing other regions, and thus could be considered as information convergence regions. In addition, we observed that an exponentially truncated power law fits the topological distribution for the degree of total incoming and outgoing connectivity. Furthermore, we also found that this directed network has a modular structure. More importantly, according to our data, we suggest that the human brain directed influence network could have a prominent small-world topological property.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, PR China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liao
authors.forename: Jurong
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Daniele
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Marinazzo
authors.forename: Qiang
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Zhengge
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Cuiping
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: Zhiqiang
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Guangming
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Huafu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology*; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult