Cited by 106Complex Network Analysis TechniquesFunctional Brain Connectivity StudiesAdvanced Clustering Algorithms Research

A Monte Carlo evaluation of weighted community detection algorithms

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Gates, Kathleen M., Henry, Teague, Steinley, Doug, Fair, Damien A.·2016·Frontiers in Neuroinformatics

Abstract

The past decade has been marked with a proliferation of community detection algorithms that aim to organize nodes (e.g., individuals, brain regions, variables) into modular structures that indicate subgroups, clusters, or communities. Motivated by the emergence of big data across many fields of inquiry, these methodological developments have primarily focused on the detection of communities of nodes from matrices that are very large. However, it remains unknown if the algorithms can reliably detect communities in smaller graph sizes (i.e., 1000 nodes and fewer) which are commonly used in brain research. More importantly, these algorithms have predominantly been tested only on binary or sparse count matrices and it remains unclear the degree to which the algorithms can recover community structure for different types of matrices, such as the often used cross-correlation matrices representing functional connectivity across predefined brain regions. Of the publicly available approaches for weighted graphs that can detect communities in graph sizes of at least 1000, prior research has demonstrated that Newman's spectral approach (i.e., Leading Eigenvalue), Walktrap, Fast Modularity, the Louvain method (i.e., multilevel community method), Label Propagation, and Infomap all recover communities exceptionally well in certain circumstances. The purpose of the present Monte Carlo simulation study is to test these methods across a large number of conditions, including varied graph sizes and types of matrix (sparse count, correlation, and reflected Euclidean distance), to identify which algorithm is optimal for specific types of data matrices. The results indicate that when the data are in the form of sparse count networks (such as those seen in diffusion tensor imaging), Label Propagation and Walktrap surfaced as the most reliable methods for community detection. For dense, weighted networks such as correlation matrices capturing functional connectivity, Walktrap consistently outperformed the other approaches for recovering communities.

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  1. Sporns O. (2011). Networks of the Brain. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

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Authors
Gates, K. M., Henry, T., Steinley, D., & Fair, D. A.
Affiliations
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
  • University of Missouri (US)
  • Oregon Health & Science University (US)
Corresponding author
Gates, Kathleen M.
Venue
Frontiers in Neuroinformatics
Published
2016-11-10
Volume
10
Pages
45-45
ISSN
1662-5196 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2554748751
Cited by
106
References
59
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 9 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 18 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 7 · 2018: 6 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1
FWCI
3.40
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
cc-by
Locations
  • Frontiers in Neuroinformatics (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Carolina Digital Repository (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
  • UNC Libraries
Funders
  • National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (R21 EB015573-01A1)
  • National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (R21 AA022074-02)
  • National Institutes of Health
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Physics and Astronomy › Statistical and Nonlinear Physics › Complex Network Analysis Techniques
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Cognitive Neuroscience › Functional Brain Connectivity Studies
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Artificial Intelligence › Advanced Clustering Algorithms Research
Keywords
community detection, weighted graphs, functional connectivity, brain networks, Louvain method, label propagation, modularity optimization, spectral clustering, diffusion tensor imaging, Monte Carlo simulation, algorithm comparison

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