Topology of brain functional networks: Towards the role of genes

Abstract

We have extracted brain functional networks from fMRI data based on temporal correlations of voxel activities during the rest and task periods. The goal of our preliminary research was to study the topology of these networks in terms of small-world and scale-free properties. The small-world property was quite clearly evident whereas the scale-free character was less obvious, especially in the rest condition. In addition, there were some differences between the rest and task functional brain networks as well as between subjects. We discuss the relation of properties of functional brain networks to the topological properties of the underlying anatomical networks, which are largely dependent upon genetic instructions during brain development. © 2009 Springer Berlin Heidelberg.