Functionality of arousal-regulating brain circuitry at rest predicts human cognitive abilities

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Brain Imaging

Background:

• Arousal state regulation involves subcortical neuromodulatory nuclei projecting to the cortex.
• The capacity of higher-order cortical regions to recruit these neuromodulatory systems for cognitive enhancement remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate if select cortical regions activate the arousal system.
• To determine if this activation modulates large-scale brain activity to predict cognitive ability.
• To identify a functional circuit linking cortical control of arousal to cognition.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the Human Connectome Project 7T functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) dataset (n=149).
• Acquired resting-state fMRI data with simultaneous eye tracking.
• Integrated fMRI data with comprehensive cognitive assessments.

Main Results:

• Identified specific frontoparietal cortical regions that drive large-scale spontaneous brain activity by engaging the arousal system.
• Demonstrated that the arousal circuit, particularly driven by the posterior cingulate cortex, predicts cognitive abilities.
• Found that the default mode network's posterior cingulate cortex influences cognition via arousal system modulation.

Conclusions:

• Select cortical regions can recruit the brain's arousal system to modulate neural activity.
• A functional circuit involving the posterior cingulate cortex and arousal system predicts cognitive performance.
• Cortical self-referential processing regions may support cognition through arousal regulation.