Qihong Zou

Human brain functional networks contain a few densely connected hubs that play a vital role in transferring information across regions during resting and task states. However, the relationship of these functional hubs to measures of brain physiology, such as regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF), remains incompletely understood. Here, we used functional MRI data of blood-oxygenation-level-dependent and arterial-spin-labeling perfusion contrasts to investigate the relationship between functional connectivity strength (FCS) and rCBF during resting and an N-back working-memory task. During resting state, functional brain hubs with higher FCS were identified, primarily in the default-mode, insula, and visual regions. The FCS showed a striking spatial correlation with rCBF, and the correlation was stronger in the default-mode network (DMN; including medial frontal-parietal cortices) and executive control network (ECN; including lateral frontal-parietal cortices) compared with visual and sensorimotor networks. Moreover, the relationship was connection-distance dependent; i.e., rCBF correlated stronger with long-range hubs than short-range ones. It is notable that several DMN and ECN regions exhibited higher rCBF per unit connectivity strength (rCBF/FCS ratio); whereas, this index was lower in posterior visual areas. During the working-memory experiment, both FCS-rCBF coupling and rCBF/FCS ratio were modulated by task load in the ECN and/or DMN regions. Finally, task-induced changes of FCS and rCBF in the lateral-parietal lobe positively correlated with behavioral performance. Together, our results indicate a tight coupling between blood supply and brain functional topology during rest and its modulation in response to task demands, which may shed light on the physiological basis of human brain functional connectome.

The default mode network (DMN) in humans has been suggested to support a variety of cognitive functions and has been implicated in an array of neuropsychological disorders. However, its function(s) remains poorly understood. We show that rats possess a DMN that is broadly similar to the DMNs of nonhuman primates and humans. Our data suggest that, despite the distinct evolutionary paths between rodent and primate brain, a well-organized, intrinsically coherent DMN appears to be a fundamental feature in the mammalian brain whose primary functions might be to integrate multimodal sensory and affective information to guide behavior in anticipation of changing environmental contingencies.

BACKGROUND: Recent functional MRI (fMRI) studies have demonstrated that there is an intrinsically organized default mode network (DMN) in the resting brain, primarily made up of the posterior cingulate cortex (PCC) and the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC). Several previous studies have found that the DMN is minimally disturbed during different resting-state conditions with limited cognitive demand. However, this conclusion was drawn from the visual inspection of the functional connectivity patterns within the DMN and no statistical comparison was performed. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Four resting-state fMRI sessions were acquired: 1) eyes-closed (EC) (used to generate the DMN mask); 2) EC; 3) eyes-open with no fixation (EO); and 4) eyes-open with a fixation (EO-F). The 2-4 sessions were counterbalanced across participants (n = 20, 10 males). We examined the statistical differences in both functional connectivity and regional amplitude of low frequency fluctuation (ALFF) within the DMN among the 2-4 resting-state conditions (i.e., EC, EO, and EO-F). Although the connectivity patterns of the DMN were visually similar across these three different conditions, we observed significantly higher functional connectivity and ALFF in both the EO and the EO-F conditions as compared to the EC condition. In addition, the first and second resting EC conditions showed significant differences within the DMN, suggesting an order effect on the DMN activity. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our findings of the higher DMN connectivity and regional spontaneous activities in the resting state with the eyes open suggest that the participants might have more non-specific or non-goal-directed visual information gathering and evaluation, and mind wandering or daydreaming during the resting state with the eyes open as compared to that with the eyes closed, thus providing insights into the understanding of unconstrained mental activity within the DMN. Our results also suggest that it should be cautious when choosing the type of a resting condition and designating the order of the resting condition in multiple scanning sessions in experimental design.

In this study, a newly reported regional homogeneity approach was used to analyze blood oxygen level-dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging data on resting state in boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Boys with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder showed decreased regional homogeneity in the frontal-striatal-cerebellar circuits, but increased regional homogeneity mainly in the occipital cortex. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis of abnormal frontal-striatal-cerebellar circuits in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. The regional homogeneity approach may be a potentially useful method in exploring the pathophysiology of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.