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Fig. 9.2. Structural connectivity and node centrality of the human brain network (data replotted
from Hagmann
et al
., 2008). Plots at the top show the backbone of fiber pathways spanning 998
cortical nodes - a dorsal view is shown at the left and a lateral view of the right hemisphere is
shown on the right. Note the high proportion of short edges and the high degree of symmetry
between left and right hemispheres. Plots at the bottom show nodes that exhibit high betweenness
centrality across all five participants imaged in the study of Hagmann
et al
., 2008. Highly central
nodes are found along the cortical midline as well as in selected prefrontal and temporal brain
regions. For more information please consult the original publication.
long-range interconnections with regions located in the structural core.
Interestingly, core regions are strongly and interhemispherically coupled which
suggests that the structure operates as a single functional system.
The studies outlined in this section represent only a first step towards creating
comprehensive structural connection data sets for the human brain. More refined
datasets and analyses will become available in the near future as brain mapping,
imaging and network methodologies become more sophisticated. Future
