approach [9]. A ‘small world’ network is thought to be the optimal network configuration for brain functioning [17]. In such a small world network, local integration is high, while the overall integrity of the network is also maintained (see figure 1). Social networks, the Internet, and the healthy brain are examples of networks that show these characteristic small world features [9]. It is suggested that changes in network characteristics occur in epilepsy patients, leading to a pathological, more random structure in the interictal state, which is temporarily reversed during a seizure [10]–[12], [18], [19]. These changes in configuration may lead to disturbed higher brain functions and further lower the brain's threshold for epileptic seizures (for a review see [20]).
