Lower resting brain entropy is associated with stronger task activation and deactivation

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Functional Neuroimaging

Background:

• Resting-state functional MRI (fMRI) allows calculation of brain entropy (BEN).
• Previous research links BEN to neurocognition and task performance.
• The relationship between resting BEN and task-evoked brain activations/deactivations is not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between resting brain entropy and task-evoked brain activity.
• To determine if resting BEN predicts brain activations and deactivations during cognitive tasks.
• To explore the influence of cognitive workload on this relationship.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of a large dataset (n=862) of resting-state fMRI data.
• Calculation of voxel-wise correlations between resting BEN and task-evoked activations/deactivations across five different tasks.
• Examination of how higher workload impacts the correlation between resting BEN and task activations.

Main Results:

• Lower resting BEN correlated with stronger task-evoked activations (negative correlation) and deactivations (positive correlation) in task-relevant brain regions.
• Higher cognitive workload led to more spatially extensive negative correlations between resting BEN and task activations.
• These findings were consistent across most assessed tasks.

Conclusions:

• Resting brain activity, quantified by BEN, can predict brain activity during task performance.
• Resting BEN may facilitate both task-evoked activations and deactivations.
• The study provides insights into individual differences in task performance and brain activation patterns.