Time-varying nodal measures with temporal community structure: a cautionary note to avoid misinterpretation

Abstract

In network neuroscience, temporal network models have gained popularity. In these models, network properties have been related to cognition and behaviour. Here we demonstrate that calculating nodal properties that are dependent on temporal community structure (such as the participation coefficient) in time-varying contexts can potentially lead to misleading results. Specifically, with regards to the participation coefficient, increases in integration can be inferred when the opposite is occuring. Further, we present a temporal extension to the participation coefficient measure (temporal participation coefficient) that circumnavigates this problem by jointly considering all community partitions assigned to a node through time. The proposed method allows us to track a nodes integration through time while adjusting for the possible changes in the community structure of the overall network.