title: Flow-Based Network Analysis of the Caenorhabditis elegans Connectome.
abstract: We exploit flow propagation on the directed neuronal network of the nematode C. elegans to reveal dynamically relevant features of its connectome. We find flow-based groupings of neurons at different levels of granularity, which we relate to functional and anatomical constituents of its nervous system. A systematic in silico evaluation of the full set of single and double neuron ablations is used to identify deletions that induce the most severe disruptions of the multi-resolution flow structure. Such ablations are linked to functionally relevant neurons, and suggest potential candidates for further in vivo investigation. In addition, we use the directional patterns of incoming and outgoing network flows at all scales to identify flow profiles for the neurons in the connectome, without pre-imposing a priori categories. The four flow roles identified are linked to signal propagation motivated by biological input-response scenarios.
authors: Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors: Karol A
authors: KA
authors: Bacik
authors: Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.|naXys & Department of Mathematics, University of Namur, Namur, Belgium.|ICTEAM, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
authors: Michael T
authors: MT
authors: Schaub
authors: Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors: Mariano
authors: 0000-0002-8750-8346
authors: M
authors: Beguerisse-Díaz
authors: Computation and Neural Systems Program, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, California, United States of America.
authors: Yazan N
authors: YN
authors: Billeh
authors: Department of Mathematics, Imperial College London, London, United Kingdom.
authors: Mauricio
authors: M
authors: Barahona
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000502:physiology*; D019295:Computational Biology; D063132:Connectome; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*