Neuroimaging contrast across the cortical hierarchy is the feature maximally linked to behavior and demographics

• Published in: NeuroImage (Orlando, Fla.) Vol. 215; p. 116853
• Main Authors: Han, Feng, Gu, Yameng, Brown, Gregory L., Zhang, Xiang, Liu, Xiao
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 15.07.2020; Elsevier Limited; Elsevier
• Subjects: Adult; Behavior; Behavioral and demographic measures; Brain; Brain hierarchy; Canonical correlation analysis; Cerebral Cortex - diagnostic imaging; Cerebral Cortex - physiology; Cognitive ability; Connectome - methods; Correlation analysis; Cortical thickness; Datasets; Demography; Female; Humans; Magnetic resonance imaging; Magnetic Resonance Imaging - methods; Male; Medical imaging; Nerve Net - diagnostic imaging; Nerve Net - physiology; Nervous system; Neural networks; Neuroimaging; Neuroimaging - methods; Resting-state fMRI connectivity; Structure-function relationships; Resting-state fMRI connectivity; Cortical thickness; Canonical correlation analysis; Brain hierarchy; Behavioral and demographic measures
• ISSN: 1053-8119; 1095-9572; 1095-9572
• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116853

An essential task of neuroscience is to elucidate the relationship between brain activity, brain structure, and human behavior. This study aims to understand this 3-way relationship by studying the population covariance of resting-state functional connectivity, cortical thickness, and behavioral/demographic measures in a large cohort of individuals. Using a data-driven canonical correlation analysis, we found that maximal pairwise correlations between the three modalities are approximately along the same direction across subjects, which is characterized by the change of the overall positive-negative trait of human behavior. More importantly, this behavioral change is associated with a divergent modulation of both resting-state connectivity and cortical thickness across cortical hierarchies between the higher-order cognitive networks and lower-order sensory/motor regions. The findings suggest that the cross-hierarchy contrast of structural and functional brain measures is tightly linked to the overall positive-negative trait of human behavior/demographics. •Three-way relationship of cortical thickness, functional connectivity, and behavior.•Maximal pairwise correlations among three modalities are along a similar direction.•The direction characterizes the positive-negative change of behavior/demographics.•Modulation of thickness and connectivity show a similar cross-hierarchy contrast.