White matter substrates of functional connectivity dynamics in the human brain
Gianpaolo Antonio Basile,
Salvatore Bertino,
Victor Nozais,
Alessia Bramanti,
Rosella Ciurleo,
Giuseppe Pio Anastasi,
Demetrio Milardi,
Alberto Cacciola
Affiliations
Gianpaolo Antonio Basile
Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy; Co-Corresponding author. Gianpaolo Antonio Basile, MD, Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy, Phone: +39 0902217143.
Salvatore Bertino
Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
Victor Nozais
Groupe d'Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle, Institut des Maladies Neurodégénératives-UMR 5293, CNRS, CEA, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; Brain Connectivity and Behaviour Laboratory, Sorbonne Universities, Paris, France
Alessia Bramanti
Department of Medicine, Surgery and Dentistry ''Medical School of Salerno''- University of Salerno, Italy
Rosella Ciurleo
IRCCS Centro Neurolesi “Bonino Pulejo”, Messina, Italy
Giuseppe Pio Anastasi
Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
Demetrio Milardi
Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy
Alberto Cacciola
Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy; Corresponding author. Alberto Cacciola, MD, Brain Mapping Lab, Department of Biomedical, Dental Sciences and Morphological and Functional Images, University of Messina, Messina, Italy, Phone: +39 0902217143.
The contribution of structural connectivity to functional connectivity dynamics is still far from being elucidated. Herein, we applied track-weighted dynamic functional connectivity (tw-dFC), a model integrating structural, functional, and dynamic connectivity, on high quality diffusion weighted imaging and resting-state fMRI data from two independent repositories. The tw-dFC maps were analyzed using independent component analysis, aiming at identifying spatially independent white matter components which support dynamic changes in functional connectivity. Each component consisted of a spatial map of white matter bundles that show consistent fluctuations in functional connectivity at their endpoints, and a time course representative of such functional activity. These components show high intra-subject, inter-subject, and inter-cohort reproducibility. We provided also converging evidence that functional information about white matter activity derived by this method can capture biologically meaningful features of brain connectivity organization, as well as predict higher-order cognitive performance.