Meta-network analysis of structural correlation networks provides insights into brain network development

Analysis of developmental brain networks is fundamentally important for basic developmental neuroscience. In this paper, we focus on the temporally-covarying connection patterns, called meta-networks, and develop a new mathematical model for meta-network decomposition. With the proposed model, we decompose the developmental structural correlation networks of cortical thickness into five meta-networks. Each meta-network exhibits a distinctive spatial connection pattern, and its covarying trajectory highlights the temporal contribution of the meta-network along development. Systematic analysis of the meta-networks and covarying trajectories provides insights into three important aspects of brain network development.