Task and Resting-State Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Modeling of Brain-Behavior Relationships in...

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data are often used to inform individual differences in cognitive, behavioral, and psychiatric phenotypes. These so-called brain-behavior association studies come in many flavors and are increasingly the focus of investigations utilizing large population neuroscience datasets. However, many questions remain surrounding the utility of task and resting-state fMRI (rs-fMRI) for modeling brain-behavior relationships, including the feasibility of conducting these investigations in developmental cohorts. With the growing availability of large neurodevelopmental datasets such as that provided by the ABCD (Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development) Study, we are now able to conduct well-powered analyses using large samples of longitudinal neuroimaging data collected from diverse populations of youth. Here we provide a high-level review of current controversies and challenges in this growing subfield of neuroscience, highlighting examples where task fMRI data and rs-fMRI data-either in isolation or combined-have yielded significant insights into brain-behavior associations. Challenges include issues related to measurement noise, appropriate estimation of effect sizes, and limits to generalizability due to insufficient diversity of samples. Innovative solutions involving advanced MRI data acquisition protocols, application of multivariate analysis methods, and more robust consideration of phenotypic complexity are reviewed. We propose that additional future directions for developmental cognitive neuroscience should include more reliable behavioral measures, multimodal neuroimaging brain-behavior studies, and greater consideration of environmental and other contextual influences on brain-behavior associations.