Correspondence between evoked and intrinsic functional brain network configurations

Much of the literature exploring differences between intrinsic and task-evoked brain architectures has examined changes in functional connectivity patterns between specific brain regions. While informative, this approach overlooks important overall functional changes in hub organization and network topology that may provide insights about differences in integration between intrinsic and task-evoked states. Examination of changes in overall network organization, such as a change in the concentration of hub nodes or a quantitative change in network organization, is important for understanding the underlying processes that differ between intrinsic and task-evoked brain architectures. The present study used graph-theoretical techniques applied to publicly available neuroimaging data collected from a large sample of individuals (N = 202), and a within-subject design where resting-state and several task scans were collected from each participant as part of the Human Connectome Project. We demonstrate that differences between intrinsic and task-evoked brain networks are characterized by a task-general shift in high-connectivity hubs from primarily sensorimotor/auditory processing areas during the intrinsic state to executive control/salience network areas during task performance. In addition, we demonstrate that differences between intrinsic and task-evoked architectures are associated with changes in overall network organization, such as increases in network clustering, global efficiency and integration between modules. These findings offer a new perspective on the principles guiding functional brain organization by identifying unique and divergent properties of overall network organization between the resting-state and task performance. Hum Brain Mapp 38:1992-2007, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.