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Analysis of institutional authors

Arenas Moreno, AlejandroAuthorGómez Jiménez, SergioAuthorGranell CAuthorDe Domenico, ManlioAuthorGomez SAuthor

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Article

Emergence of Assortative Mixing between Clusters of Cultured Neurons

Publicated to:Plos Computational Biology. 10 (9): e1003796-e1003796 - 2014-09-01 10(9), DOI: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003796

Authors: Teller, Sara; Granell, Clara; De Domenico, Manlio; Soriano, Jordi; Gomez, Sergio; Arenas, Alex

Affiliations

Univ Barcelona, Dept Estruct & Constituents Materia, Barcelona, Spain - Author
Univ Rovira & Virgili, Dept Engn Informat & Matemat, E-43007 Tarragona, Spain - Author
Universitat de Barcelona - Author
Universitat Rovira i Virgili - Author

Abstract

© 2014 Teller et al. The analysis of the activity of neuronal cultures is considered to be a good proxy of the functional connectivity of in vivo neuronal tissues. Thus, the functional complex network inferred from activity patterns is a promising way to unravel the interplay between structure and functionality of neuronal systems. Here, we monitor the spontaneous self-sustained dynamics in neuronal cultures formed by interconnected aggregates of neurons (clusters). Dynamics is characterized by the fast activation of groups of clusters in sequences termed bursts. The analysis of the time delays between clusters' activations within the bursts allows the reconstruction of the directed functional connectivity of the network. We propose a method to statistically infer this connectivity and analyze the resulting properties of the associated complex networks. Surprisingly enough, in contrast to what has been reported for many biological networks, the clustered neuronal cultures present assortative mixing connectivity values, meaning that there is a preference for clusters to link to other clusters that share similar functional connectivity, as well as a rich-club core, which shapes a ‘connectivity backbone’ in the network. These results point out that the grouping of neurons and the assortative connectivity between clusters are intrinsic survival mechanisms of the culture.

Keywords

Astronomia / físicaBiochemical research methodsBiodiversidadeBiotecnologíaCellular and molecular neuroscienceCiência da computaçãoCiências agrárias iCiências biológicas iCiências biológicas iiComputational theory and mathematicsEcologyEcology, evolution, behavior and systematicsEngenharias iiiEngenharias ivEnsinoGeneticsInterdisciplinarMatemática / probabilidade e estatísticaMathematical & computational biologyMathematics, interdisciplinary applicationsMedicina iMedicina iiModeling and simulationMolecular biologyPsicologíaSaúde coletiva

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Plos Computational Biology due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2014, it was in position 4/57, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Mathematical & Computational Biology.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations provided by WoS (ESI, Clarivate), it yields a value for the citation normalization relative to the expected citation rate of: 1.36. This indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Weighted Average of Normalized Impact by the Scopus agency: 1.78 (source consulted: FECYT Feb 2024)
  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 10.84 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-23, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 53
  • Scopus: 54
  • Europe PMC: 26
  • Google Scholar: 84
  • Open Alex: 67
  • OpenCitations: 59

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-23:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 115.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 115 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 8.85.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 13 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

There is a significant leadership presence as some of the institution’s authors appear as the first or last signer, detailed as follows: Last Author (Arenas A).