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Updated: Jan 10, 2026
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Microdissection of Mouse Brain into Functionally and Anatomically Different Regions
Published on: February 15, 2021
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Cellular and molecular associations with intrinsic brain organization
Guozheng Feng1, Jiayu Chen1, Jing Sui2
1Tri-Institutional Center for Translational Research in Neuroimaging and Data Science (TReNDS), Georgia State University, Georgia Institute of Technology, and Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Nature Communications
|November 26, 2025
Summary
Human brain
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Molecular Biology
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Understanding the link between cellular architecture and large-scale brain function is a key neuroscience challenge.
- The brain's functional organization is thought to be influenced by its underlying cellular and molecular components.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the spatial correspondences between cellular/molecular architecture and intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs) in the human brain.
- To explore how these microscale features relate to macroscale functional network connectivity (FNC) and cognitive processes.
Main Methods:
- Integration of transcriptomic (microarray, snRNA-seq), molecular imaging, and neuroimaging datasets.
- Analysis of spatial distributions of cell types, neurotransmitter systems, and mitochondrial phenotypes.
- Comparison of cellular/molecular similarity networks with functional network connectivity patterns.
Main Results:
- Cell type, neurotransmitter, and mitochondrial distributions spatially align with intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs).
- Cellular and molecular profiles mirror functional network connectivity (FNC) patterns and canonical functional domains.
- ICNs and FNCs mediate relationships between microscale architecture and cognitive processes.
Conclusions:
- Human brain's functional architecture is systematically organized in alignment with its cellular and molecular makeup.
- This alignment may constrain functional network formation and contribute to the neural basis of cognition.
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