Mesoscopic physiological interactions in the human brain reveal small-world properties

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Systems Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience

Background:

• Cognition relies on efficient communication between diverse neural circuits.
• Understanding large-scale brain networks is crucial for deciphering cognitive functions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the mesoscopic network of cortico-cortical interactions in the human brain.
• To characterize the human brain interactome and its properties.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of 6,024 hours of intracranial field potential recordings from 4,142 electrodes in 48 subjects.
• Evaluation of inter-areal communication across frequency bands.
• Validation against anatomical and neurophysiological data from humans and monkeys.

Main Results:

• Characterization of a broad, spatially specific, dynamic, and extensive human brain interactome.
• Identification of small-world properties in the physiological interactome, suggesting efficient information transmission.
• Correlation of interaction dynamics with brain states (sleep/awake).

Conclusions:

• The human brain interactome exhibits complex network properties facilitating cortical communication.
• These findings provide a foundation for understanding how network dysfunction relates to mental disorders.