{
  "abstract": "Connectomes can be represented at many resolutions, but coarse-graining risks discarding structure relevant to neural dynamics. Here we ask at what resolution a connectome preserves what it predicts about neural activity. In C. elegans, direct synaptic connectivity poorly predicts whether stimulating one neuron evokes a response in another. A parameter-free predictor based on paths through the connectome performs substantially better, with most predictive information carried by two-step paths and by the arrangement rather than the number of connections. Coarse-graining neurons into biological cell classes preserves these predictions despite discarding path structure, whereas random partitions degrade them. Connectivity alone identifies alternative coarse-grainings that preserve prediction down to about nine groups corresponding to nervous-system subsystems. Partitions inferred from newly hatched animals preserve adult predictions, and lineage-based partitions in Drosophila preserve path structure better than random coarse-graining. Functional prediction can therefore survive at resolutions far coarser than those required to preserve structure.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Scuola Superiore Meridionale"
  ],
  "article_type": "New results",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 2,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "C. Sale"
    },
    {
      "name": "M. J. Richardson"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/21cbph1ksan8f.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.64898/2026.11.03.762695",
  "fulltext_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.03.762695v1.full",
  "id": "21cbph1ksan8f",
  "issns": [],
  "landing_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.03.762695v1",
  "language": null,
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "biorxiv",
      "neuroscience"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": null,
  "pdf_url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.03.762695v1.full.pdf",
  "pmcid": null,
  "pmid": null,
  "published": "2026-11-03",
  "publisher": null,
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/21cbph1ksan8f.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-05T00:21:42Z",
      "native_id": "10.64898/2026.11.03.762695",
      "source": "biorxiv",
      "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.11.03.762695v1"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "biorxiv:neuroscience",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Connectome structure constrains neural activity across scales",
  "title_text": "Connectome structure constrains neural activity across scales",
  "type": "preprint",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-06T00:21:27Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/21cbph1ksan8f",
  "venue": "bioRxiv",
  "versions": []
}