Network community structure and resilience to localized damage: Application to brain microcirculation

Abstract

In cerebrovascular networks, some vertices are more connected to each other than with the rest of the vasculature, defining a community structure. Here, we introduce a class of model networks built by rewiring Random Regular Graphs, which enables reproduction of this community structure and other topological properties of cerebrovascular networks. We use these model networks to study the global flow reduction induced by the removal of a single edge. We analytically show that this global flow reduction can be expressed as a function of the initial flow rate in the removed edge and of a topological quantity, both of which display probability distributions following Cauchy laws, i.e. with large tails. As a result, we show that the distribution of blood flow reductions is strongly influenced by the community structure. In particular, the probability of large flow reductions increases substantially when the community structure is stronger, weakening the network resilience to single capillary occlusions. We discuss the implications of these findings in the context of Alzheimers Disease, in which the importance of vascular mechanisms, including capillary occlusions, is beginning to be uncovered.

Statement of significance

“Occlusions of capillary vessels, the smallest blood vessels in the brain, are involved in major diseases, including Alzheimers Disease and ischemic stroke. To better understand their impact on cerebral blood flow, we theoretically study the vessel network response to a single occlusion. We show that the reduction of blood flow at network scale is a function of the initial blood flow in the occluded vessel and of a topological quantity, both of which have broad distributions, that is, with significant probabilities of extreme values. Using model networks built from Random Regular Graphs, we show that the presence of communities in the network (subparts more connected to each other than with the rest of the vasculature) yield a broader distribution of the topological quantity. This weakens the resilience of brain vessel networks to single capillary occlusions, which may contribute to the pathogenicity of capillary occlusions in the brain”.