Spatial distribution of heterogeneity as a modulator of collective dynamics in pancreatic beta-cell networks and beyond

We study the impact of spatial distribution of heterogeneity on collective dynamics in gap-junction coupled beta-cell networks comprised on cells from two populations that differ in their intrinsic excitability. Initially, these populations are uniformly and randomly distributed throughout the networks. We develop and apply an iterative algorithm for perturbing the arrangement of the network such that cells from the same population are increasingly likely to be adjacent to one another. We find that the global input strength, or network drive, necessary to transition the network from a state of quiescence to a state of synchronised and oscillatory activity decreases as network sortedness increases. Moreover, for weak coupling, we find that regimes of partial synchronisation and wave propagation arise, which depend both on network drive and network sortedness. We then demonstrate the utility of this algorithm for studying the distribution of heterogeneity in general networks, for which we use Watts–Strogatz networks as a case study. This work highlights the importance of heterogeneity in node dynamics in establishing collective rhythms in complex, excitable networks and has implications for a wide range of real-world systems that exhibit such heterogeneity.