Viol Aline, Palhano-Fontes Fernanda, Onias Heloisa, de Araujo Draulio B, Hövel Philipp, Viswanathan Gandhi M
Institute of Theoretical Physics, Technische Universität Berlin, Hardenbergstraße 36, 10623 Berlin, Germany.
Bernstein Center for Computational Neuroscience Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Philippstraße 13, 10115 Berlin, Germany.
Entropy (Basel). 2019 Jan 30;21(2):128. doi: 10.3390/e21020128.
With the aim of further advancing the understanding of the human brain's functional connectivity, we propose a network metric which we term the . This metric quantifies the Shannon entropy of the distance distribution to a specific node from all other nodes. It allows to characterize the influence exerted on a specific node considering statistics of the overall network structure. The measurement and characterization of this structural information has the potential to greatly improve our understanding of sustained activity and other emergent behaviors in networks. We apply this method to study how the psychedelic infusion Ayahuasca affects the functional connectivity of the human brain in resting state. We show that the geodesic entropy is able to differentiate functional networks of the human brain associated with two different states of consciousness in the awaking resting state: (i) the ordinary state and (ii) a state altered by ingestion of the Ayahuasca. The functional brain networks from subjects in the altered state have, on average, a larger geodesic entropy compared to the ordinary state. Finally, we discuss why the geodesic entropy may bring even further valuable insights into the study of the human brain and other empirical networks.
为了进一步推进对人类大脑功能连接性的理解，我们提出了一种网络度量，我们将其称为 。该度量量化了从所有其他节点到特定节点的距离分布的香农熵。它允许从整体网络结构的统计数据出发，表征对特定节点施加的影响。这种结构信息的测量和表征有可能极大地增进我们对网络中持续活动和其他涌现行为的理解。我们应用这种方法来研究迷幻剂阿亚瓦斯卡的注入如何影响人类大脑在静息状态下的功能连接性。我们表明，测地熵能够区分在清醒静息状态下与两种不同意识状态相关的人类大脑功能网络：（i）普通状态和（ii）因摄入阿亚瓦斯卡而改变的状态。与普通状态相比，处于改变状态的受试者的功能性脑网络平均具有更大的测地熵。最后，我们讨论了为什么测地熵可能会为人类大脑和其他实证网络的研究带来更有价值的见解。
