Integrating temporal and spatial scales: human structural network motifs across age and region of interest size

Human brain networks can be characterized at different temporal or spatial scales given by the age of the subject or the spatial resolution of the neuroimaging method. Integration of data across scales can only be successful if the combined networks show a similar architecture. One way to compare networks is to look at spatial features, based on fiber length, and topological features of individual nodes where outlier nodes form single node motifs whose frequency yields a fingerprint of the network. Here, we observe how characteristic single node motifs change over age (12-23 years) and network size (414, 813, and 1615 nodes) for diffusion tensor imaging structural connectivity in healthy human subjects. First, we find the number and diversity of motifs in a network to be strongly correlated. Second, comparing different scales, the number and diversity of motifs varied across the temporal (subject age) and spatial (network resolution) scale: certain motifs might only occur at one spatial scale or for a certain age range. Third, regions of interest which show one motif at a lower resolution may show a range of motifs at a higher resolution which may or may not include the original motif at the lower resolution. Therefore, both the type and localization of motifs differ for different spatial resolutions. Our results also indicate that spatial resolution has a higher effect on topological measures whereas spatial measures, based on fiber lengths, remain more comparable between resolutions. Therefore, spatial resolution is crucial when comparing characteristic node fingerprints given by topological and spatial network features. As node motifs are based on topological and spatial properties of brain connectivity networks, these conclusions are also relevant to other studies using connectome analysis.