Living on the edge: network neuroscience beyond nodes
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Updated: Jul 16, 2025

Modeling the Functional Network for Spatial Navigation in the Human Brain
Published on: October 13, 2023
Richard F Betzel1, Joshua Faskowitz2, Olaf Sporns1
1Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Cognitive Science Program, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Program in Neuroscience, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA; Network Science Institute, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
Abstract:
Network neuroscience has emphasized the connectional properties of neural elements - cells, populations, and regions. This has come at the expense of the anatomical and functional connections that link these elements to one another. A new perspective - namely one that emphasizes 'edges' - may prove fruitful in addressing outstanding questions in network neuroscience. We highlight one recently proposed 'edge-centric' method and review its current applications, merits, and limitations. We also seek to establish conceptual and mathematical links between this method and previously proposed approaches in the network science and neuroimaging literature. We conclude by presenting several avenues for future work to extend and refine existing edge-centric analysis.
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