Network Motif Analysis — Recurring Structural Building Blocks

Network motif analysis is a statistical method for directed networks, introduced by Milo, Shen-Orr, and Alon in 2002, that identifies small recurring subgraph patterns — motifs — that appear significantly more often than would be expected in a comparable random network. By comparing a real network against a null ensemble of randomised graphs, the method reveals the elementary structural building blocks that define the functional organisation of biological regulatory networks, social networks, and other complex systems.