Adding connections between neighbouring nodes in a network. A.

<p>In this network, a majority of connections link nodes that are close together in space. <b>B.</b> New connections are added (dashed lines), resulting in a network with higher density, higher clustering, and shorter path lengths. The addition of connections between adjacent nodes thus alters the graph-theoretic properties of the network. A–B: yellow areas highlight triplets of nodes forming closed triangles, showing neighbours of a node that are neighbours of each other (clustering coefficient).