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Journal ArticleDOI

The organization of the human cerebral cortex estimated by intrinsic functional connectivity

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.
Citations
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Journal ArticleDOI
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

Journal ArticleDOI
17 Nov 2011-Neuron
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

Journal ArticleDOI
11 Aug 2016-Nature
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.

3,414 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
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

References
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The cytoarchitectonic probabilistic maps of the seven IPL areas provide a robust anatomical reference and open new perspectives for further structure–function investigations of the human IPL.
Abstract: Recently, a new cytoarchitectonic map of the human inferior parietal lobule (IPL) has been proposed, with the IPL consisting of seven cytoarchitectonically distinct areas (Caspers et al. in Neuroimage 33(2):430–448, 2006). The aim of the present study was to investigate the different aspects of variability of these IPL areas. As one aspect of variability, we analysed the topographical relationship between the localisation of the borders of the areas and macroanatomical landmarks. Although five areas occupy the surface supramarginal gyrus and two the angular gyrus, their borders cannot be reliably detected by means of macroanatomy. To account for variability in size and extent of the areas in stereotaxic space, cytoarchitectonic probabilistic maps have been calculated for each IPL area. Hemisphere- and gender-related differences have been investigated on basis of volumes of cytoarchitectonic areas. For one of them, area PFcm, a significant gender difference in volume was found with males having larger volumes than females; this difference exceeds that of gender differences in total brain volume. The different aspects of variability and volumetric asymmetry may underlie some of the well-known functional asymmetries in the IPL, observed, for example during fMRI experiments analysing spatial attention or motor attention, and planning. The cytoarchitectonic probabilistic maps of the seven IPL areas provide a robust anatomical reference and open new perspectives for further structure–function investigations of the human IPL.

356 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: There is convergence of oculomotor information from two distinct regions of the frontal cortex to the striatal matrix, which is known to project into pallidonigral circuits including the striatonigrocollicular pathway of the saccadic eye movement system.
Abstract: The degree of parallel processing in frontal cortex-basal ganglia circuits is a central and debated issue in research on the basal ganglia. To approach this issue directly, we analyzed and compared the corticostriatal projections of two principal oculomotor areas of the frontal lobes, the frontal eye field (FEF) and the supplementary eye field (SEF). We first identified cortical regions within or adjacent to each eye field by microstimulation in macaque monkeys and then injected each site with either 35S-methionine or WGA-HRP conjugate. We analyzed the corticostriatal projections and also the interconnections of the pairs of cortical areas. We observed major convergence of the projections of the FEF and the SEF within the striatum, principally in the caudate nucleus. In cross sections through the striatum, both projections were broken into a series of discontinuous input zones that seemed to be part of complex three-dimensional labyrinths. Where the FEF and SEF projection fields were both present, they overlapped patch for patch. Thus, both inputs were dispersed within the striatum but converged with one another. Striatal afferents from cortex adjacent to the FEF and the SEF did not show convergence with SEF and FEF inputs, but did, in part, converge with one another. For all pairs of cortical areas tested, the degree of overlap in the corticostriatal projections appeared to be directly correlated with the degree of cortical interconnectivity of the areas injected. All of the corticostriatal fiber projections observed primarily avoided immunohistochemically identified striosomes. We conclude that there is convergence of oculomotor information from two distinct regions of the frontal cortex to the striatal matrix, which is known to project into pallidonigral circuits including the striatonigrocollicular pathway of the saccadic eye movement system. Furthermore, functionally distinct premotor areas near the oculomotor fields often systematically projected to striatal zones adjacent to oculomotor field projections, suggesting an anatomical basis for potential interaction of these inputs within the striatum. We propose that parallel processing is not the exclusive principle of organization of forebrain circuits associated with the basal ganglia. Rather, patterns of both convergence and divergence are present and are likely to depend on multiple functional and developmental constraints.

353 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) tractography is used to reconstruct neural connections between the frontal cortex and the caudate nucleus and putamen in vivo to better identify the fronto-striatal pathways in the human brain.

347 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: 3D probabilistic maps of 8 areas in the human superior parietal cortex (SPC) are presented, quantifying the interindividual overlap for each voxel in stereotaxic reference space, and providing a maximum probability map, providing a contiguous parcellation.
Abstract: Recently, 8 areas (5Ci, 5M, 5L, 7PC, 7A, 7P, 7M, hIP3) in the human superior parietal cortex (SPC) were delineated in 10 postmortem brains using observer-independent cytoarchitectonic analysis. Here we present 3D probabilistic maps of these areas, quantifying the interindividual overlap for each voxel in stereotaxic reference space, and a maximum probability map, providing a contiguous parcellation. For all areas, we determined probabilities of mutual borders, calculated stereotaxic centers of gravity, and estimated volumes. A basic pattern of areas and borders was observed, which showed, however, intersubject variations and a significant interhemispheric asymmetry (7P, 7M) that may be functionally relevant. There was a trend toward higher intersubject anatomical variability in lateral compared with medial areas. For several areas (5M, 7PC, 7A, 7P), variability was significantly higher in the left hemisphere and/or in men, whereas for areas 5Ci and 5M there was a hemisphere-by-gender interaction. Differences in anatomical variability could bias group analyses in functional imaging studies by reducing sensitivity for activations of entities with high variability. The probabilistic maps provide an objective anatomical reference and account for the structural variability of the human brain. Integrated into functional imaging experiments, they can improve structure–function investigations of the human SPC.

345 citations