Brain Mapping
Large-Scale Functional Brain Organization
Abstract
Human brain function depends on efficient integration of distributed neural activity across a complex patchwork of interconnected areas. Network approaches are providing new insights into the functional architecture of the human brain. This article summarizes recent progress in our understanding of functional brain networks, highlights six major principles of large-scale brain organization, and describes how the brain's intrinsic functional architecture influences and constrains information processing.
References (0)
Cited by (55)
The extended neural architecture of human attachment: An fMRI coordinate-based meta-analysis of affiliative studies
2024, Neuroscience and Biobehavioral ReviewsFunctional imaging studies and clinical evidence indicate that cortical areas relevant to social cognition are closely integrated with evolutionarily conserved basal forebrain structures and neighboring regions, enabling human attachment and affiliative emotions. The neural circuitry of human affiliation is continually being unraveled as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) becomes increasingly prevalent, with studies examining human brain responses to various attachment figures. However, previous fMRI meta-analyses on affiliative stimuli have encountered challenges, such as low statistical power and the absence of robustness measures. To address these issues, we conducted an exhaustive coordinate-based meta-analysis of 79 fMRI studies, focusing on personalized affiliative stimuli, including one's infants, family, romantic partners, and friends. We employed complementary coordinate-based analyses (Activation Likelihood Estimation and Signed Differential Mapping) and conducted a robustness analysis of the results. Findings revealed cluster convergence in cortical and subcortical structures related to reward and motivation, salience detection, social bonding, and cognition. Our study thoroughly explores the neural correlates underpinning affiliative responses, effectively overcoming the limitations noted in previous meta-analyses. It provides an extensive view of the neural substrates associated with affiliative stimuli, illuminating the intricate interaction between cortical and subcortical regions. Our findings significantly contribute to understanding the neurobiology of human affiliation, expanding the known human attachment circuitry beyond the traditional basal forebrain regions observed in other mammals to include uniquely human isocortical structures.
Association of polygenic risk for bipolar disorder with resting-state network functional connectivity in youth with and without bipolar disorder
2023, European NeuropsychopharmacologyLittle is known regarding the polygenic underpinnings of anomalous resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) in youth bipolar disorder (BD). The current study examined the association of polygenic risk for BD (BD-PRS) with whole-brain rsFC at the large-scale network level in youth with and without BD. 99 youth of European ancestry (56 BD, 43 healthy controls [HC]), ages 13–20 years, completed resting-state fMRI scans. BD-PRS was calculated using summary statistics from the latest adult BD genome-wide association study. Data-driven independent component analyses of the resting-state fMRI data were implemented to examine the association of BD-PRS with rsFC in the overall sample, and separately in BD and HC. In the overall sample, higher BD-PRS was associated with lower rsFC of the salience network and higher rsFC of the frontoparietal network with frontal and parietal regions. Within the BD group, higher BD-PRS was associated with higher rsFC of the default mode network with orbitofrontal cortex, and altered rsFC of the visual network with frontal and occipital regions. Within the HC group, higher BD-PRS was associated with altered rsFC of the frontoparietal network with frontal, temporal and occipital regions. In conclusion, the current study found that BD-PRS generated based on adult genetic data was associated with altered rsFC patterns of brain networks in youth. Our findings support the usefulness of BD-PRS to investigate genetically influenced neuroimaging markers of vulnerability to BD, which can be observed in youth with BD early in their course of illness as well as in healthy youth.
Abnormal brain function in photophobic patients with dry eye disease: An fMRI study
2023, Revue NeurologiquePhotophobia, a frequent and disabling symptom observed in various neurological conditions and eye diseases, is thought to involve maladaptive brain functioning. We assessed this hypothesis, using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in photophobic patients with minimal-to-severe dry eye disease (DED), as compared to healthy controls.
This prospective, monocentric, comparative, cohort study included eleven photophobic DED patients compared to eight controls. Photophobic patients had a complete evaluation of DED to exclude any other cause of photophobia. All participants were scanned with fMRI under intermittent light stimulation with a LED lamp (27s. ON, 27 s. OFF), and cerebral activations were studied with univariate contrasts between the ON and OFF conditions, and with functional connectivity methods.
Firstly, stimulation activated the occipital cortex more strongly in patients than in controls. Moreover, stimulation deactivated the superior temporal cortex in patients less than in controls. Secondly, functional connectivity analysis showed that light stimulation induced lesser decoupling between the occipital cortex and the salience and visual networks in patients than in controls.
The current data shows that DED patients with photophobia have maladaptive brain anomalies. There is hyperactivity in the cortical visual system, associated with abnormal functional interactions, both within the visual cortex, and between visual areas and salience control mechanisms. Such anomalies show similarities with other conditions such as tinnitus, hyperacusis, and neuropathic pain. Those findings support novel neurally oriented methods for the care of patients with photophobia.
Functional significance of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during exhaustive exercise
2022, Biological PsychologyGiven the extensive neural networks connecting the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) with other subcortical regions, the DLPFC has been implicated in a wide range of psychological and physiological functions during execution of movements. The main objective of this narrative review is to provide a solid theoretical foundation to deepen our understanding of the functional significance of the DLPFC during exercise. Given the limited scientific evidence in this field of scientific enquiry, this review was primarily focused on fatiguing and exhaustive exercise modes. The authors reviewed the anatomical structure of this region, as well as its functional importance for physical tasks performed mainly at moderate and high intensities. The majority of the studies employed noninvasive brain assessment techniques, such as electroencephalography, functional near-infrared spectroscopy, and functional magnetic resonance imaging. Six main DLPFC functions were identified: 1) exercise tolerance, 2) executive function, 3) attention allocation, 4) emotion regulation, 5) reward seeking, and 6) memory formation. The most important neuromodulatory function exerted by the DLPFC pertains to the inhibitory influence of this region over the amygdala and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis. This inhibitory function appears to be the primary possibility and is generally reliant upon connectivity with other subcortical regions. During exhaustive exercise, stress hormones appear to have an inhibitory effect on the DLPFC and hippocampus. The present authors hypothesize that the use of cognitive strategies to partially neutralize the amygdala may rely on the presence of rewards, which are then translated into motivation to action through the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopamine systems.
Cooperation enhances motor learning
2022, Human Movement ScienceRelatedness represents the need to experience satisfaction from interpersonal acceptance and closeness with others and is considered a basic psychological human need. Studies testing the effects of supporting the learners' need for relatedness in motor learning (e.g., Gonzalez & Chiviacowsky, 2018) have manipulated relatedness basically by instructions from the experimenter and using practice and learning at an individual level. A different form of supporting the need for relatedness is through cooperative learning. In different domains, contexts involving cooperative effort strategies and goals were observed to result in greater positive interpersonal relationship and higher goal achievement in relation to individual efforts or competitive conditions. In this experiment, the effects of practice structured in cooperative or competitive ways on the learning of hitting a ball with a racket toward a target was tested. Adolescents practiced in pairs and were assigned to three experimental groups. In the cooperation group, the participants practiced in a cooperative condition while in the competitive group, the participants practiced in a competitive condition. Participants in a control group also practiced in the presence of another participant but were not induced at cooperative or competitive conditions. In the next day all groups performed retention and transfer tests. Questionnaires measured the participants' motivational and affective levels. The results show that cooperation increases intrinsic motivation, positive affect, self-efficacy, and task learning relative to individual efforts or competitive practice. Competition decreases perceived relatedness. The findings add to a growing body of evidence showing the importance of social relatedness for motor performance and learning. They also indicate a positive influential role of cooperation in motor learning.
Methylphenidate remediates aberrant brain network dynamics in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A randomized controlled trial
2022, NeuroImageCitation Excerpt :Second, we further characterized cross-network interactions in each brain state using a brain state-specific network interaction index (NII). The NII is a parsimonious metric based on the triple-network model (Menon and Uddin, 2010, Menon, 2015), which suggests that the SN plays a critical role in allocating cognitive resource by switching its interaction with the FPN and DMN. The SN and FPN are co-activated during high demanding cognitive task whereas the DMN is decoupled from the SN and FPN and is anti-correlated with both the SN and FPN (Cai et al., 2018, Supekar et al., 2019).
Methylphenidate is a widely used first-line treatment for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), but the underlying circuit mechanisms are poorly understood. Here we investigate whether a single dose of osmotic release oral system methylphenidate can remediate attention deficits and aberrancies in functional circuit dynamics in cognitive control networks, which have been implicated in ADHD. In a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind crossover design, 27 children with ADHD were scanned twice with resting-state functional MRI and sustained attention was examined using a continuous performance task under methylphenidate and placebo conditions; 49 matched typically-developing (TD) children were scanned once for comparison. Dynamic time-varying cross-network interactions between the salience (SN), frontoparietal (FPN), and default mode (DMN) networks were examined in children with ADHD under both administration conditions and compared with TD children. Methylphenidate improved sustained attention on a continuous performance task in children with ADHD, when compared to the placebo condition. Children with ADHD under placebo showed aberrancies in dynamic time-varying cross-network interactions between the SN, FPN and DMN, which were remediated by methylphenidate. Multivariate classification analysis confirmed that methylphenidate remediates aberrant dynamic brain network interactions. Furthermore, dynamic time-varying network interactions under placebo conditions predicted individual differences in methylphenidate-induced improvements in sustained attention in children with ADHD. These findings suggest that a single dose of methylphenidate can remediate deficits in sustained attention and aberrant brain circuit dynamics in cognitive control circuits in children with ADHD. Findings identify a novel brain circuit mechanism underlying a first-line pharmacological treatment for ADHD, and may inform clinically useful biomarkers for evaluating treatment outcomes.