Morphometric Similarity Networks Detect Microscale Cortical Organization and Predict Inter-Individual Cognitive Variation

• Published in: Neuron (Cambridge, Mass.) Vol. 97; no. 1; pp. 231 - 247.e7
• Main Authors: Seidlitz, Jakob, Váša, František, Shinn, Maxwell, Romero-Garcia, Rafael, Whitaker, Kirstie J., Vértes, Petra E., Wagstyl, Konrad, Kirkpatrick Reardon, Paul, Clasen, Liv, Liu, Siyuan, Messinger, Adam, Leopold, David A., Fonagy, Peter, Dolan, Raymond J., Jones, Peter B., Goodyer, Ian M., Raznahan, Armin, Bullmore, Edward T.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 03.01.2018; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Animals; Brain mapping; Brain research; Cerebral Cortex - anatomy & histology; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Cognition - physiology; Cognitive ability; connectome; Connectome - methods; Consortia; Cortex; cross-species; cytoarchitecture; Female; gene expression; Humans; Hypotheses; Intelligence - physiology; Macaca; macaque; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; morphology; MRI; multi-modal; Neural networks; Neural Pathways - anatomy & histology; Neural Pathways - physiology; Neuroimaging; Neurosciences; NMR; Nuclear magnetic resonance; Variables; Young Adult; Young adults; macaque; morphology; MRI; cross-species; IQ; connectome; cytoarchitecture; multi-modal; gene expression
• ISSN: 0896-6273; 1097-4199; 1097-4199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2017.11.039

Macroscopic cortical networks are important for cognitive function, but it remains challenging to construct anatomically plausible individual structural connectomes from human neuroimaging. We introduce a new technique for cortical network mapping based on inter-regional similarity of multiple morphometric parameters measured using multimodal MRI. In three cohorts (two human, one macaque), we find that the resulting morphometric similarity networks (MSNs) have a complex topological organization comprising modules and high-degree hubs. Human MSN modules recapitulate known cortical cytoarchitectonic divisions, and greater inter-regional morphometric similarity was associated with stronger inter-regional co-expression of genes enriched for neuronal terms. Comparing macaque MSNs with tract-tracing data confirmed that morphometric similarity was related to axonal connectivity. Finally, variation in the degree of human MSN nodes accounted for about 40% of between-subject variability in IQ. Morphometric similarity mapping provides a novel, robust, and biologically plausible approach to understanding how human cortical networks underpin individual differences in psychological functions. •Morphometric similarity networks (MSNs) are connectomes generated from structural MRI•MSN topology captures known cortical cytoarchitecture and related gene expression•Macaque MSNs map onto gold-standard connectivity derived from axonal tract tracing•Human IQ is linked to variation in MSN degree of relevant anatomical regions Morphometric similarity mapping is a robust new method to examine the structural organization of individual brains in vivo. It provides morphometric similarity networks (MSNs) that capture cellular, molecular, and functional features of the brain and predict inter-individual differences in cognition.