2014/02/28 by Sara Teller, Clara Granell, Manlio De Domenico +5 · 76 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Mathematics · Neuroscience · Physics and Astronomy · #Biology #Cell Image Analysis Techniques #Cluster (spacecraft) #Computer science #Functional connectivity #Mathematics #Mixing (physics) #Mixing patterns #Nerve net #Network dynamics #Neural dynamics and brain function #Neuroscience #Neuroscience and Neural Engineering #Physics #cond-mat.dis-nn #physics.bio-ph #q-bio.NC
paper · pdf · doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003796
published in PLoS Computational Biology 10(9), e1003796 (Public Library of Science) · 33 pages, 10 figures
arxiv created 2014/07/07 · openalex publication_date 2014/09/04 · arxiv updated 2014/09/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/05
The analysis of the activity of neuronal cultures is considered to be a good proxy of the functional connectivity of in vivo neuronal tissues. Thus, the functional complex network inferred from activity patterns is a promising way to unravel the interplay between structure and functionality of neuronal systems. Here, we monitor the spontaneous self-sustained dynamics in neuronal cultures formed by interconnected aggregates of neurons (clusters). Dynamics is characterized by the fast activation of groups of clusters in sequences termed bursts. The analysis of the time delays between clusters' activations within the bursts allows the reconstruction of the directed functional connectivity of the network. We propose a method to statistically infer this connectivity and analyze the resulting properties of the associated complex networks. Surprisingly enough, in contrast to what has been reported for many biological networks, the clustered neuronal cultures present assortative mixing connectivity values, meaning that there is a preference for clusters to link to other clusters that share similar functional connectivity, as well as a rich-club core, which shapes a 'connectivity backbone' in the network. These results point out that the grouping of neurons and the assortative connectivity between clusters are intrinsic survival mechanisms of the culture.