Cerebral chemoarchitecture shares organizational traits with brain structure and function

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Neuroimaging
• Brain Anatomy

Background:

• Chemoarchitecture, the distribution of neurotransmitter molecules, is crucial for brain structure-function relationships.
• The receptome quantifies interareal chemoarchitectural similarity, offering insights into brain organization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the spatial organization of the human brain's receptome.
• To explore the relationship between chemoarchitectural similarity and functional/structural brain organization.

Main Methods:

• Utilized positron-emission tomography (PET) imaging data from 19 neurotransmitter transporters and receptors.
• Applied nonlinear dimensionality reduction to analyze chemoarchitectural similarity across brain regions.

Main Results:

• Identified three primary spatial gradients in cortical chemoarchitectural similarity: centro-temporal, occipito-frontal, and temporo-occipital.
• Revealed a striato-thalamic axis in subcortical nuclei, distinguishing functional communities.
• Cortical receptome organization mirrors functional and structural anatomy, with decreasing similarity along a primary-to-transmodal axis.

Conclusions:

• The brain's receptome exhibits distinct spatial gradients and organizational principles.
• Receptomic diversification in unimodal and heteromodal regions may support functional flexibility.
• Chemoarchitectural organization is closely linked to broader brain structure and function.