PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Antonio G. Zippo
AU  - Pasquale A. Della Rosa
AU  - Isabella Castiglioni
AU  - Gabriele E. M. Biella
TI  - Alternating dynamics of segregation and integration in human brain functional networks during working-memory task
AID  - 10.1101/082438
DP  - 2016 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 082438
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/22/082438.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2016/10/22/082438.full
AB  - Brain functional networks show high variability in short time windows but mechanisms governing these transient dynamics still remain unknown. In this work we studied the temporal evolution of functional brain networks involved in a working memory task while recording high-density electroencephalography in human normal subjects. We found that functional brain networks showed an initial phase characterized by an increase of the functional segregation index followed by a second phase where the functional segregation fell down and the functional integration prevailed. Notably, wrong trials were associated with different sequences of the segregation-integration profile and measures of network centrality and modularity were able to catch crucial aspects of the oscillatory network dynamics. Additionally, computational investigations further supported the experimental results. The brain functional organization may respond to the information processing demand of a working memory task following a 2-step atomic scheme wherein segregation and integration alternately dominate the functional configurations.