Trophic structure predicts seizure propagation in brain network models

Abstract

Epilepsy is widely regarded as a disorder driven by connectivity in the brain. We use a model of seizure dynamics on directed networks to investigate how structural properties affect seizure propensity. We find that properties such as trophic coherence, spectral radius, strong connectivity and non-normality are closely related to seizure propensity, and present a proof of a theoretical relationship between spectral radius and cycle structure. Our simulated results are robust to the kind of coupling used in the model and become stronger as network size is increased. They suggest that the overall directionality of information processing in the brain may be related to a propensity for epileptic seizures.