Intrasubject functional connectivity related to self-generated thoughts
Daniel Brennan1, James W Murrough2, Laurel S Morris2
1Department of Psychology, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences, NYU, New York, NY, USA.
Brain and Behavior
|December 15, 2020
Summary
Functional connectivity (FC) in resting-state fMRI may reflect mind-wandering patterns, not just brain architecture. A study found sensorimotor network connectivity negatively correlated with self-referential thoughts, suggesting a confounding effect in psychiatric research.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Psychiatric Research
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Resting-state functional MRI (rsfMRI) is widely used in psychiatric research to assess functional connectivity (FC).
- FC is assumed to reflect stable brain architecture and trait differences relevant to psychopathology.
- However, the influence of spontaneous, self-generated thoughts (mind-wandering) on FC is not fully understood and may challenge these assumptions.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between the content of self-generated thoughts and functional connectivity (FC) patterns in healthy individuals.
- To determine if FC reflects thought patterns rather than solely the brain's intrinsic functional architecture.
Main Methods:
- Multi-factor analysis (MFA) was employed to analyze self-reported thought content during 7 Tesla rsfMRI.
- Network-based statistic (NBS) was used to compare individual thought dimensions with whole-brain connectivity.
Main Results:
- Three dimensions of thought content were identified: self-referential thought, negative environmental thoughts, and imagery.
- A significant negative correlation was found between connectivity in sensorimotor cortices and self-referential thoughts (p = .0081, .0486 FDR).
Conclusions:
- The findings suggest that self-generated thoughts, particularly self-referential ones, can significantly influence and potentially confound functional connectivity (FC) measures.
- This highlights the need to consider the impact of mind-wandering when interpreting rsfMRI-derived FC in psychiatric research.
Keywords:
data-driven analysisfunctional connectivitymind-wanderingnetwork-based statisticrepeated measuresMore Related Videos
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