Chunk #12 — Results — Spring-embedded visualization in combination with functional connectivity suggests that regions are linked more locally in childhood and are more distributed in adulthood
In a first analysis, we used a visualization algorithm commonly used in graph theoretic analyses known as spring embedding that aids in the qualitative interpretation of graphs (Figure 2 and Video S1) [45]. In spring embedding, the positions of the nodes (i.e., regions) in a graph are based solely on the strength and pattern of functional connections instead of their anatomical locations. In this procedure, each functional connection between a pair of nodes is treated as a spring with a spring constant related to the strength of the specific correlation. The entire system of pair-wise regional functional connections is then iteratively allowed to relax to the lowest global energetic state, i.e., groups of nodes that are strongly interconnected will be placed close together even if anatomically distant.
