Relating structure and function in the human brain: relative contributions of anatomy, stationary dynamics, and non-stationarities

PLoS Comput Biol. 2014 Mar 20;10(3):e1003530. doi: 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1003530. eCollection 2014 Mar.

Abstract

Investigating the relationship between brain structure and function is a central endeavor for neuroscience research. Yet, the mechanisms shaping this relationship largely remain to be elucidated and are highly debated. In particular, the existence and relative contributions of anatomical constraints and dynamical physiological mechanisms of different types remain to be established. We addressed this issue by systematically comparing functional connectivity (FC) from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data with simulations from increasingly complex computational models, and by manipulating anatomical connectivity obtained from fiber tractography based on diffusion-weighted imaging. We hypothesized that FC reflects the interplay of at least three types of components: (i) a backbone of anatomical connectivity, (ii) a stationary dynamical regime directly driven by the underlying anatomy, and (iii) other stationary and non-stationary dynamics not directly related to the anatomy. We showed that anatomical connectivity alone accounts for up to 15% of FC variance; that there is a stationary regime accounting for up to an additional 20% of variance and that this regime can be associated to a stationary FC; that a simple stationary model of FC better explains FC than more complex models; and that there is a large remaining variance (around 65%), which must contain the non-stationarities of FC evidenced in the literature. We also show that homotopic connections across cerebral hemispheres, which are typically improperly estimated, play a strong role in shaping all aspects of FC, notably indirect connections and the topographic organization of brain networks.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Brain / physiology*
  • Brain Mapping / methods
  • Computer Simulation
  • Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging
  • Female
  • Hemodynamics
  • Humans
  • Magnetic Resonance Imaging / methods
  • Male
  • Models, Neurological
  • Nerve Net / physiology
  • Neural Pathways / physiology
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Young Adult

Grants and funding

This work is supported by the Inserm and the University Pierre et Marie Curie (Paris, France). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.