SMALL WORLD

PROPENSITY AND
WEIGHTED BRAIN
NETWORKS
 INTRODUCTION
What is a Small World Network?

Applications of Small World Networks

1. Applications to earth sciences

2. Applications to computing
3. Neural networks in the brain

In this study, we are mainly focussing on Brain

neural networks, specially weighted brain neural
networks.
 PREVIOUS WORK
SMALL WORLD INDEX

S =/ , where

= Lg/Lrand

Used for Unweighted graph analysis only.

 Small World Propensity
New metric is proposed as SWP.
Can be used to assess small world
structure in weighted networks with
varying densities

1. A standardized procedure for

generating weighted small-world
networks,
2. A weighted extension of the SWP,
and
3. A method for mapping observed
 Small World Propensity
= 1 ((C2 + L2)/2)1/2, where,
C = (Clatt Cobs)/(Clatt Crand), and
L = (Lobs Lrand)/(Llatt Lrand)

Terminologies used:
C = (Clatt Cobs)/(Clatt Crand), and
L = (Lobs Lrand)/(Llatt Lrand)

Cobs is the clustering coeffient of the observed network to

be compared. Clatt and Crand are the Clustering Coefficients
of Lattice and Random networks respectively.
Lobs is the average path length of the observed network.
Llatt and Lrand are the Path lenghts of Lattice and Random
networks respectively.
 ANALYSIS
WATTS STROGATZ MODEL
Basic model used to analyze the small
world network.

Small world network has an important

characteristic property, with increase in
analysis size-scale of a small world
network, its average path length scales
as log(N); where N is number of nodes in
the network.
Need to map real world data to basic
Application of SWP to basic
Watts-Strogatz model
(Unweighted Networks)
 Figure 1. Small-World Propensity in binary networks. (a) Clustering coefficient and
path length as a function of the rewiring parameter, p, for a standard Watts-Strogatz
formulation of a small-world network with N = 1000 nodes and r = 5. The dashed
horizontal lines mark the baseline value of the clustering coefficient in a similar lattice
network (top) and the baseline value for the path length in a similar random network
(bottom). (b) SWP calculated for the same network as in panel (a). Error bars represent
the standard error of the mean calculated over 50 simulations, and the shaded regions
represent the range denoted as SW if using a threshold value of T = 0.6. (c) SWP as
a function of network density (increasing r for N = 1000 nodes). (d) Small-world index
 CONTRIBUTION TO DEVIATION
FOR UNWEIGHTED NETWORKS

Networks with a high SWP can fall into one of three

categories:
1. High clustering and low path length (both low C and
L ),
2. High clustering and moderate path length (low C
and moderate L) or
3. Moderate clustering and low path length (moderate
C and low L ).

It is therefore interesting to examine not only the SWP

of a network, but also the relative contributions of C
and L to this value.
 Contribution to deviation, =(4/) - 1
where = tan (L /C ) is the angle of the observed (C , L ) vector.
For =/2 (ie L=1), we find = 1 and for =0(ie C=1), we find
= -1.
Thus, for the standard Watts-Strogatz model, a smooth transition
of deviation from = 1 to = 1 is observed as the network is
 Generating Weighted Small-
World Networks
We will develop weighted null models for
brain networks.
Important feature of Brain Networks:
Weight of an edge is inversely

proportional to the physical distance

between nodes.
1. We begin with a network of N nodes that
are arranged on a lattice and connected
to all neighbours within a radius, r.
2. Assign edge weights w ij according to the
distance between nodes d ij :
3. w ij = (D max d ij), where,
4. D max = (max{d ij} + )
5. Re-wire each edge with probability, p,
retaining the weight of the edge.
 We observe that the weighted SWP behaves
similarly to the unweighted SWP and maintains a
large dynamic range as network density is
increased.
 The behavior of C, L, and is similar to
the behavior displayed in the case of
unweighted networks.
Mapping Real-World Observations
to Theoretical Model

To validate the calculated SWP, we examine its

performance on weighted benchmark networks:
Hierarchical modular networks (HN) and
Modular networks (MN).
Networks differ in terms of their path length:
the MN has a small characteristic weighted path
length, while the HN has average weighted path
length.
It is evident that MN have greater small-
world structure than HN.
 we compare the ability of three metrics to detect small-world
structure in these networks constructed at various densities:
1. The weighted SWP computed on the true networks
2. The un-weighted SWP, and
3. Small-world index
 RESULT
Small-World Propensity :

To measure the extent to which a network displays small-world structure, Small-World

Propensity, denoted as '', is defined to reflect the deviation of a networks clustering
coefficient, Cobs , and characteristic path length, Lobs , from both Lattice (Clatt , Llatt) and
random (Crand , Lrand ) networks constructed with the same number of nodes and the
same degree distribution:
= 1 ((C2 + L2)/2)1/2, where,
C = (Clatt Cobs)/(Clatt Crand), and
L = (Lobs Lrand)/(Llatt Lrand)
The ratios C and L represent the fractional deviation of the metric (C obs or Lobs ) from
its respective null model (a lattice or random network).
Both C and L has been bounded between 0 and 1. Thus, if C or L > 1, we set C
or L = 1 and if C or L < 0, we set C or L = 0, which guarantees that '' is
bounded in the range [0, 1]. Networks with high small-world characteristics (low C
and L) will have a value of close to 1, while lower values of represent larger
deviations from the respective null models for clustering and path length, and display
less small-world structure.
lies in the range [0,1].
Small World Propensity(SWP) can be best utilized as a comparative metric to
describe the extent to which a network displays small-world (SW) structure.
 REFERENCES
Small-World Propensity and Weighted Brain Networks - Sarah Feldt

Muldoon1,2,3 , Eric W. Bridgeford1,4 & Danielle S.Bassett1,5

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4766852/

The Ubiquity of Small-World Networks. - Telesford, Q. K., Joyce, K. E.,

Hayasaka, S., Burdette, J. H. & Laurienti, P. J

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22432451

Network Small-World-Ness: A Quantitative Method for Determining

Canonical Network Equivalence. - Humphries, M. D. & Gurney, K.

http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.000205

Small-world network, from Wikipedia