Benchmarking functional connectivity by the structure and geometry of the human brain

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Computational Neuroscience
• Network Science

Background:

• Brain function relies on structural connectivity, which supports electrical impulse propagation.
• Functional connectivity patterns arise from structural connections, often via polysynaptic pathways.
• The organization of functional connections lacking direct structural links remains incompletely understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the organization of functional connections independent of direct structural links.
• To develop and apply a data-driven method for benchmarking functional connections against structural and geometric embedding.
• To reweigh and reexpress functional connectivity using this novel approach.

Main Methods:

• Development of a data-driven benchmarking method for functional connections.
• Assessment of functional connections relative to underlying structural and geometric properties.
• Reweighing and reexpressing functional connectivity data.

Main Results:

• Identification of unexpectedly strong functional connectivity among distant brain regions.
• Observation of strong functional connectivity within the default mode network.
• Discovery of strong functional connectivity at the apex of the unimodal-transmodal hierarchy.

Conclusions:

• Functional modules and hierarchies emerge from interactions that transcend physical brain structure and geometry.
• These findings may explain the divergence of structural and functional connectivity in transmodal cortex.
• Structural connectivity and geometry provide a natural framework for analyzing brain functional connectivity.