The organization of the human cerebral cortex estimated by intrinsic functional connectivity
01 Sep 2011-Journal of Neurophysiology (American Physiological Society)-Vol. 106, Iss: 3, pp 1125-1165
TL;DR: In this paper, the organization of networks in the human cerebrum was explored using resting-state functional connectivity MRI data from 1,000 subjects and a clustering approach was employed to identify and replicate networks of functionally coupled regions across the cerebral cortex.
Abstract: Information processing in the cerebral cortex involves interactions among distributed areas. Anatomical connectivity suggests that certain areas form local hierarchical relations such as within the visual system. Other connectivity patterns, particularly among association areas, suggest the presence of large-scale circuits without clear hierarchical relations. In this study the organization of networks in the human cerebrum was explored using resting-state functional connectivity MRI. Data from 1,000 subjects were registered using surface-based alignment. A clustering approach was employed to identify and replicate networks of functionally coupled regions across the cerebral cortex. The results revealed local networks confined to sensory and motor cortices as well as distributed networks of association regions. Within the sensory and motor cortices, functional connectivity followed topographic representations across adjacent areas. In association cortex, the connectivity patterns often showed abrupt transitions between network boundaries. Focused analyses were performed to better understand properties of network connectivity. A canonical sensory-motor pathway involving primary visual area, putative middle temporal area complex (MT+), lateral intraparietal area, and frontal eye field was analyzed to explore how interactions might arise within and between networks. Results showed that adjacent regions of the MT+ complex demonstrate differential connectivity consistent with a hierarchical pathway that spans networks. The functional connectivity of parietal and prefrontal association cortices was next explored. Distinct connectivity profiles of neighboring regions suggest they participate in distributed networks that, while showing evidence for interactions, are embedded within largely parallel, interdigitated circuits. We conclude by discussing the organization of these large-scale cerebral networks in relation to monkey anatomy and their potential evolutionary expansion in humans to support cognition.
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TL;DR: Progress made during the first half of the Human Connectome Project project in refining the methods for data acquisition and analysis provides grounds for optimism that the HCP datasets and associated methods and software will become increasingly valuable resources for characterizing human brain connectivity and function, their relationship to behavior, and their heritability and genetic underpinnings.
4,388 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors studied functional brain organization in healthy adults using resting state functional connectivity MRI and proposed two novel brain wide graphs, one of 264 putative functional areas, the other a modification of voxelwise networks that eliminates potentially artificial short-distance relationships.
3,517 citations
TL;DR: Using multi-modal magnetic resonance images from the Human Connectome Project and an objective semi-automated neuroanatomical approach, 180 areas per hemisphere are delineated bounded by sharp changes in cortical architecture, function, connectivity, and/or topography in a precisely aligned group average of 210 healthy young adults.
Abstract: Understanding the amazingly complex human cerebral cortex requires a map (or parcellation) of its major subdivisions, known as cortical areas. Making an accurate areal map has been a century-old objective in neuroscience. Using multi-modal magnetic resonance images from the Human Connectome Project (HCP) and an objective semi-automated neuroanatomical approach, we delineated 180 areas per hemisphere bounded by sharp changes in cortical architecture, function, connectivity, and/or topography in a precisely aligned group average of 210 healthy young adults. We characterized 97 new areas and 83 areas previously reported using post-mortem microscopy or other specialized study-specific approaches. To enable automated delineation and identification of these areas in new HCP subjects and in future studies, we trained a machine-learning classifier to recognize the multi-modal 'fingerprint' of each cortical area. This classifier detected the presence of 96.6% of the cortical areas in new subjects, replicated the group parcellation, and could correctly locate areas in individuals with atypical parcellations. The freely available parcellation and classifier will enable substantially improved neuroanatomical precision for studies of the structural and functional organization of human cerebral cortex and its variation across individuals and in development, aging, and disease.
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TL;DR: It is found that motion-induced signal changes are often complex and variable waveforms, often shared across nearly all brain voxels, and often persist more than 10s after motion ceases, which increase observed RSFC correlations in a distance-dependent manner.
2,713 citations
University of Western Ontario1, York University2, University of Bergen3, The Mind Research Network4, National Institutes of Health5, University of New Mexico6, University of Chieti-Pescara7, Washington University in St. Louis8, Stanford University9, Georgia Institute of Technology10, Oulu University Hospital11, Indiana University12, Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg13, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology14
TL;DR: Emerging evidence suggests that dynamic FC metrics may index changes in macroscopic neural activity patterns underlying critical aspects of cognition and behavior, though limitations with regard to analysis and interpretation remain.
2,332 citations
References
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TL;DR: In this paper, the authors used probabilistic tractography on diffusion weighted imaging data to segment basal ganglia and thalamus in 30 healthy subjects based on their cortical and subcortical projections.
Abstract: Detailed knowledge of the anatomy and connectivity pattern of cortico-basal ganglia circuits is essential to an understanding of abnormal cortical function and pathophysiology associated with a wide range of neurological and neuropsychiatric diseases. We aim to study the spatial extent and topography of human basal ganglia connectivity in vivo. Additionally, we explore at an anatomical level the hypothesis of coexistent segregated and integrative cortico-basal ganglia loops. We use probabilistic tractography on magnetic resonance diffusion weighted imaging data to segment basal ganglia and thalamus in 30 healthy subjects based on their cortical and subcortical projections. We introduce a novel method to define voxel-based connectivity profiles that allow representation of projections from a source to more than one target region. Using this method, we localize specific relay nuclei within predefined functional circuits. We find strong correlation between tractography-based basal ganglia parcellation and anatomical data from previously reported invasive tracing studies in nonhuman primates. Additionally, we show in vivo the anatomical basis of segregated loops and the extent of their overlap in prefrontal, premotor, and motor networks. Our findings in healthy humans support the notion that probabilistic diffusion tractography can be used to parcellate subcortical gray matter structures on the basis of their connectivity patterns. The coexistence of clearly segregated and also overlapping connections from cortical sites to basal ganglia subregions is a neuroanatomical correlate of both parallel and integrative networks within them. We believe that this method can be used to examine pathophysiological concepts in a number of basal ganglia-related disorders.
736 citations
TL;DR: Investigation of the substrate of the late-developing process in adult brains found three regions responded selectively when subjects read about a protagonist's thoughts, but not when they read about other subjective, internal states or other socially relevant information about a person.
Abstract: Evidence from developmental psychology sug- gests that representing the contents of other people's thoughts and beliefs depends on a component of reasoning aboutother minds(theoryofmind)thatisdistinctfromthe earlier-developing mental-state concepts for goals, per- ceptions,andfeelings.Toprovideconvergingevidence,the current study investigated the substrate of the late-devel- oping process in adult brains. Three regions—the right and left temporo-parietal junction and the posterior cingulate—respondedselectivelywhensubjectsreadabout a protagonist's thoughts, but not when they read about other subjective, internal states or other socially relevant information about a person. By contrast, the medial pre- frontal cortex responded equivalently in all of these story conditions, a result consistent with a broader role for medial prefrontal cortex in general social cognition. These data support the hypothesis that the early- and late-de- veloping components of theory of mind rely on separate psychological and neural mechanisms, and that these mechanisms remain distinct into adulthood. In the classic false-belief test, preschoolers are told a story like this: ''Sally puts her ball in a basket and leaves; Anne takes the ball from the basket and puts it in a box.'' The children are then asked, ''When Sally comes back, where will she look for her ball?'' Four-year-olds know that Sally will look for the ball in the basket, where Sally thinks the ball is. Younger children con- sistently predict the opposite: They expect Sally to look for her ball in the box, where the ball really is (Wellman, Cross, & Watson, 2001; Wimmer & Perner, 1983).
733 citations
TL;DR: It is suggested that a fronto‐parietal circuit for manipulation of objects exists in humans and involves basically the same areas as in the monkey and it is proposed that area SII analyses the intrinsic object characteristics whilst the superior parietal lobule is related to kinaesthesia.
Abstract: Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) was used to localize brain areas active during manipulation of complex objects. In one experiment subjects were required to manipulate complex objects for exploring their macrogeometric features as compared to manipulation of a simple smooth object (a sphere). In a second experiment subjects were asked to manipulate complex objects and to silently name them upon recognition as compared to manipulation of complex not recognizable objects without covert naming. Manipulation of complex objects resulted in an activation of ventral premotor cortex [Brodmann's area (BA) 44], of a region in the intraparietal sulcus (most probably corresponding to the anterior intraparietal area in the monkey), of area SII and of a sector of the superior parietal lobule. When the objects were covertly named additional activations were found in the opercular part of BA 44 and in the pars triangularis of the inferior frontal gyrus (BA 45). We suggest that a fronto-parietal circuit for manipulation of objects exists in humans and involves basically the same areas as in the monkey. It is proposed that area SII analyses the intrinsic object characteristics whilst the superior parietal lobule is related to kinaesthesia.
728 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the human cerebral cortex is made up of a mosaic of structural areas, frequently referred to as Brodmann areas (BAs), and it is shown that higher order cortical areas exhibit more variability than primary and secondary areas and that the folds are much better predictors of the BAs than had been previously thought.
Abstract: The human cerebral cortex is made up of a mosaic of structural areas, frequently referred to as Brodmann areas (BAs). Despite the widespread use of cortical folding patterns to perform ad hoc estimations of the locations of the BAs, little is understood regarding 1) how variable the position of a given BA is with respect to the folds, 2) whether the location of some BAs is more variable than others, and 3) whether the variability is related to the level of a BA in a putative cortical hierarchy. We use whole-brain histology of 10 postmortem human brains and surface-based analysis to test how well the folds predict the locations of the BAs. We show that higher order cortical areas exhibit more variability than primary and secondary areas and that the folds are much better predictors of the BAs than had been previously thought. These results further highlight the significance of cortical folding patterns and suggest a common mechanism for the development of the folds and the cytoarchitectonic fields.
726 citations