Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Mark W Woolrich
Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Matthew F Glasser
Department of Neuroscience, Washington University Medical School, Missouri, United States; St. Luke’s Hospital, Missouri, United States
Emma C Robinson
Department of Biomedical Engineering, School of Biomedical Engineering and Imaging Sciences, King’s College London, London, United Kingdom
Christian F Beckmann
Donders Institute, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands; Department of Cognitive Neurosciences, Radboud University Medical Centre, Nijmegan, Netherlands
Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Stephen M Smith
Centre for Functional MRI of the Brain, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Nuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Brain connectivity is often considered in terms of the communication between functionally distinct brain regions. Many studies have investigated the extent to which patterns of coupling strength between multiple neural populations relates to behaviour. For example, studies have used ‘functional connectivity fingerprints’ to characterise individuals' brain activity. Here, we investigate the extent to which the exact spatial arrangement of cortical regions interacts with measures of brain connectivity. We find that the shape and exact location of brain regions interact strongly with the modelling of brain connectivity, and present evidence that the spatial arrangement of functional regions is strongly predictive of non-imaging measures of behaviour and lifestyle. We believe that, in many cases, cross-subject variations in the spatial configuration of functional brain regions are being interpreted as changes in functional connectivity. Therefore, a better understanding of these effects is important when interpreting the relationship between functional imaging data and cognitive traits.
