From Caenorhabditis elegans to the Human Connectome: A Specific Modular Organisation Increases Metabolic, Functional, and Developmental Efficiency

TL;DR

This study compares neural networks of C. elegans and human brains to benchmark networks, revealing specific properties like higher clustering, shorter wiring, and lower entropy that suggest optimized neural organization beyond modularity.

Contribution

It demonstrates that neural connectomes possess unique structural features not solely explained by modularity, highlighting their specialized efficiency and organization.

Findings

Higher clustering coefficients than benchmarks

Reduced wiring length compared to similar modularity networks

Lower algorithmic entropy indicating simpler organization

Abstract

The connectome, or the entire connectivity of a neural system represented by network, ranges various scales from synaptic connections between individual neurons to fibre tract connections between brain regions. Although the modularity they commonly show has been extensively studied, it is unclear whether connection specificity of such networks can already be fully explained by the modularity alone. To answer this question, we study two networks, the neuronal network of C. elegans and the fibre tract network of human brains yielded through diffusion spectrum imaging (DSI). We compare them to their respective benchmark networks with varying modularities, which are generated by link swapping to have desired modularity values but otherwise maximally random. We find several network properties that are specific to the neural networks and cannot be fully explained by the modularity alone. First, the clustering coefficient and the characteristic path length of C. elegans and human connectomes are both higher than those of the benchmark networks with similar modularity. High clustering coefficient indicates efficient local information distribution and high characteristic path length suggests reduced global integration. Second, the total wiring length is smaller than for the alternative configurations with similar modularity. This is due to lower dispersion of connections, which means each neuron in C. elegans connectome or each region of interest (ROI) in human connectome reaches fewer ganglia or cortical areas, respectively. Third, both neural networks show lower algorithmic entropy compared to the alternative arrangements. This implies that fewer rules are needed to encode for the organisation of neural systems.