Topographic Hub Maps of the Human Structural Neocortical Network |
| |
| Authors: | Emil H. J. Nijhuis Anne-Marie van Cappellen van Walsum David G. Norris |
| |
| Affiliation: | 1. Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour, Radboud University Nijmegen, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.; 2. MIRA Institute for Biomedical Technology and Technical Medicine, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.; 3. Department of Anatomy, Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.; 4. Erwin L. Hahn Institute for Magnetic Resonance Imaging, University of Duisburg-Essen, Duisburg-Essen, Germany.; University of Michigan, United States of America, |
| |
| Abstract: | Hubs within the neocortical structural network determined by graph theoretical analysis play a crucial role in brain function. We mapped neocortical hubs topographically, using a sample population of 63 young adults. Subjects were imaged with high resolution structural and diffusion weighted magnetic resonance imaging techniques. Multiple network configurations were then constructed per subject, using random parcellations to define the nodes and using fibre tractography to determine the connectivity between the nodes. The networks were analysed with graph theoretical measures. Our results give reference maps of hub distribution measured with betweenness centrality and node degree. The loci of the hubs correspond with key areas from known overlapping cognitive networks. Several hubs were asymmetrically organized across hemispheres. Furthermore, females have hubs with higher betweenness centrality and males have hubs with higher node degree. Female networks have higher small-world indices. |
| |
| Keywords: | |
|
|
