Convergent resting-state functional connectivity and meta-analytic functional decoding for describing probabilistic...

Understanding how distributed visual subsystems are integrated within the brain's large-scale architecture is essential for characterizing visual perception and its interaction with cognitive and affective processes. Using probabilistic visual topographic maps and the Human Connectome Project normative connectome, this study examined the convergent resting-state functional connectivity of three representative visual networks: dorsolateral occipital, parietal, and ventral temporal systems. The methods included network-based convergent connectivity analysis, meta-analytic functional decoding, and probabilistic topographic mapping. Convergent connectivity mapping revealed probabilistic patterns of positive coupling with limbic, salience, and somatomotor circuits, alongside negative connectivity within default mode and frontoparietal systems. Large-scale network analyses revealed that the dorsolateral and parietal networks converged primarily with visual and dorsal attention systems, while the ventral temporal network showed broader convergence with somatomotor, limbic, and salience networks. Meta-Analytic functional decoding linked dorsolateral regions to affective arousal and cognitive regulation, parietal regions to reasoning and cognitive updating, and ventral temporal regions to visual-emotional integration. The results highlight possible shared and dissociable principles governing how visual systems embed within intrinsic cortical hierarchies. The findings indicate that visual networks are deeply integrated into circuits for arousal, action readiness, and affective significance, suggesting a possible shared organizational principle intrinsic to the architecture of the human visual system.