Brain Functional Connectivity Asymmetry: Left Hemisphere Is More Modular

• Published in: Symmetry (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 4; p. 833
• Main Authors: Jajcay, Lucia, Tomeček, David, Horáček, Jiří, Španiel, Filip, Hlinka, Jaroslav
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.04.2022
• Subjects: Alzheimer's disease; Asymmetry; Brain; Correlation coefficients; Graph representations; Graph theory; Handedness; Hemispheres; Hypotheses; Magnetic resonance imaging; Modular structures; Modularity; Schizophrenia; Time series; Czech Republic
• ISSN: 2073-8994; 2073-8994
• DOI: 10.3390/sym14040833

Graph-theoretical approaches are increasingly used to study the brain and may enhance our understanding of its asymmetries. In this paper, we hypothesize that the structure of the left hemisphere is, on average, more modular. To this end, we analyzed resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging data of 90 healthy subjects. We computed functional connectivity by Pearson’s correlation coefficient, turned the matrix into an unweighted graph by keeping a certain percentage of the strongest connections, and quantified modularity separately for the subgraph formed by each hemisphere. Our results show that the left hemisphere is more modular. The result is consistent across a range of binarization thresholds, regardless of whether the two hemispheres are thresholded together or separately. This illustrates that graph-theoretical analysis can provide a robust characterization of lateralization of brain functional connectivity.