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Updated: Sep 10, 2025
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Large-scale cortical functional networks are organized in structured cycles
Mats W J van Es1, Cameron Higgins2,3, Chetan Gohil2,4,5
1Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity (OHBA), Oxford Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK. mats.vanes@psych.ox.ac.uk.
Nature Neuroscience
|August 27, 2025
Summary
The brain
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Cognitive Science
- Systems Neuroscience
Background:
- Cognitive functions like attention and memory require timely processing.
- The brain's ability to manage these functions within specific timeframes is not fully understood.
- Cyclical activity patterns may explain efficient cognitive task fulfillment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the temporal dynamics of large-scale cortical functional networks.
- To determine if cognitive functions are organized in cyclical patterns.
- To explore the relationship between these cycles and cognitive performance.
Main Methods:
- Analysis of five large magnetoencephalography (MEG) datasets.
- Studying the temporal evolution of canonical cortical functional networks.
- Quantifying cycle strength and speed metrics.
Main Results:
- Cortical network dynamics, while stochastic, exhibit a robust cyclical pattern.
- This cyclical structure organizes functionally similar states at specific phases (300-1,000 ms).
- Cycle strength and speed are heritable and correlate with age, cognition, and behavior.
Conclusions:
- Large-scale cortical functional networks operate in an inherently cyclical manner.
- This cyclical organization ensures periodic activation of essential cognitive functions.
- Brain network cyclicity is a heritable trait linked to cognitive abilities.
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