Tiziano Squartini — ISC-CNR Roma #
Detecting cluster structure of resting state fMRI brain networks of mice: percolation and modularity features #
Although the brain has been an object of study since long time, it is still largely unknown. Its highly 
non-trivially connected structure shapes a functional network whose activation and synchronization mechanisms 
still represent a major challenge for scientists belonging to the different fields, from neuroscience to 
complex system theory. This talk represents a contribution to the study of the brain from the perspective of 
complex network theory. In particular, a data set corresponding to the neuronal activity of 41 mice brains in a 
resting state, collected via the fMRI technique, has been analysed by applying a range of procedures (as data 
clustering, community detection, percolation analysis and others), in order to gain insight into the collective 
activity of brain areas. Our results indicate that a statistically significant signal of collective neuronal 
activity is detectable even in a resting state, thus allowing us to identify functionally-related areas. 
Indirectly, this also proves that the analytical tools provided by network theory may indeed provide a 
non-trivial insight into the structure of the brain, highlighting functional correlations between different 
areas.
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In collaboration with: Giampiero Bardella, Angelo Bifone, Andrea Gabrielli.