Exploring Neurofunctional Phase Transition Patterns in Autism Spectrum Disorder via Thermodynamics Parameters

Designing informative descriptors for time-varying complex networks is important for characterizing structural reconfiguration in evolving graph data. This paper introduces a thermodynamics-inspired framework for dynamic graph analysis, centered on Spectral Core Entropy (SCE), node energy, internal energy, and a temperature-like reconfiguration index. These quantities provide a compact representation of how graph organization changes over time. We apply this framework to resting-state fMRI data from autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and control subjects. At the event level, the temperature index shows a statistically significant but modest association with low-SSIM reconfiguration events, indicating that it serves as a weak yet reproducible marker of rapid network change. On controlled synthetic dynamic graphs, the framework exhibits regime-dependent sensitivity: spectral-core change is more informative under rewiring, whereas the temperature index is more informative under gain modulation. At the node level, node energy highlights regional differences between ASD and control groups, providing interpretable neuroscientific context for dynamic brain connectivity. Overall, the proposed framework provides a promising and computationally tractable approach for characterizing reconfiguration patterns in dynamic brain networks and other evolving complex systems.