Neuron
Volume 79, Issue 4, 21 August 2013, Pages 798-813
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Article
Evidence for Hubs in Human Functional Brain Networks

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.07.035Get rights and content
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Highlights

  • Reveals confounds in degree-based hub detection techniques in correlation networks

  • Utilizes multiple methods to convergently identify hubs in correlation networks

  • Identifies regions and nodes that support and link different parts of brain networks

  • Generates differential, testable, and spatially constrained hypotheses regarding hubs

Summary

Hubs integrate and distribute information in powerful ways due to the number and positioning of their contacts in a network. Several resting-state functional connectivity MRI reports have implicated regions of the default mode system as brain hubs; we demonstrate that previous degree-based approaches to hub identification may have identified portions of large brain systems rather than critical nodes of brain networks. We utilize two methods to identify hub-like brain regions: (1) finding network nodes that participate in multiple subnetworks of the brain, and (2) finding spatial locations in which several systems are represented within a small volume. These methods converge on a distributed set of regions that differ from previous reports on hubs. This work identifies regions that support multiple systems, leading to spatially constrained predictions about brain function that may be tested in terms of lesions, evoked responses, and dynamic patterns of activity.

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