Interaction of Functional Brain Networks Is Associated With k‐Clique Percolation in the Human Structural Connectome

TL;DR

This paper shows how complex brain networks interact through high-order clique structures in the human structural connectome.

Contribution

A novel model is proposed to explain high-order clique percolation in the structural connectome under biological constraints.

Findings

High-order clique percolation is characteristic of the human structural connectome.

Structural communities maintain local connectivity density while preserving overall sparsity.

Individual-specific connections create variability in functional brain subnetwork interactions.

Abstract

The human structural connectome has a complex internal community organization, characterized by a high degree of overlap and related to functional and cognitive phenomena. We explored connectivity properties in connectome networks and showed that k‐clique percolation of an anomalously high order is characteristic of the human structural connectome. The resulting structural organization maintains a high local density of connectivity distributed throughout the connectome while preserving the overall sparsity of the network. To analyze these findings, we proposed a novel model for the emergence of high‐order clique percolation during network formation with a phase transition dynamic under constraints on connection length. Investigating the structural basis of functional brain subnetworks, we identified a direct relationship between their interaction and the formation of clique clusters within their structural connections. Based on these findings, we hypothesize that the percolating clique cluster serves as a distributed bridge between interacting functional subnetworks, showing the complex, complementary nature of their structural connections. We also examined the difference between individual‐specific and common structural connections and found that the latter plays a sustaining role in the connectivity of structural communities. At the same time, the superiority of individual connections, in contrast to common ones, creates variability in the interaction of functional brain subnetworks.

Clique percolation of an anomalously high order in the structural connectome reflects the interaction of functional brain networks. The observed structural organization reveals a high local connectivity density while maintaining overall network sparsity. We propose a novel model for the emergence of clique percolation under biological constraints on connection length.

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