Human white matter tracts aligned with canonical functional brain networks

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Brain Connectivity
• Cognitive Neuroscience

Background:

• White matter tracts are crucial for brain networks but their functional organization is unclear.
• Anatomical pathways are known, but their link to cognitive systems needs systematic study.

Purpose of the Study:

• To create a white matter tract termination atlas.
• To link white matter tracts to functional brain organization and cognitive processes.
• To establish a framework connecting structural connectivity to cognition.

Main Methods:

• Constructed a population-level white matter tract termination atlas.
• Projected tract endpoints onto the cortical surface.
• Integrated the atlas with meta-analytic decoding for functional profiling.
• Used hierarchical clustering to group tracts by functional associations.

Main Results:

• White matter tracts showed distinct cognitive signatures.
• Tracts organized into ensembles mirroring intrinsic brain networks.
• A specific ensemble aligned with default mode, salience, and frontoparietal control networks (triple-network model).

Conclusions:

• White matter architecture is organized by large-scale functional principles.
• Identified a structural backbone linking functional systems relevant to neuropsychiatric disorders.
• Established a tract-to-network framework for linking brain structure, function, and cognition.