Individual differences in white-matter microstructure reflect variation in functional connectivity during choice.

Journal article

The relation between brain structure and function is of fundamental importance in neuroscience. Comparisons between behavioral and brain-imaging measures suggest that variation in brain structure correlates with the presence of specific skills. Behavioral measures, however, reflect the integrated function of multiple brain regions. Rather than behavior, a physiological index of function could be a more sensitive and informative measure with which to compare structural measures. Here, we test for a relationship between a physiological measure of functional connectivity between two brain areas during a simple decision-making task and a measure of structural connectivity. Paired-pulse transcranial magnetic stimulation indexed functional connectivity between two regions important for action choices: the premotor and motor cortex. Fractional anisotropy (FA), a marker of microstructural integrity, indexed structural connectivity. Individual differences in functional connectivity during action selection show highly specific correlations with FA in localized regions of white-matter interconnecting regions, including the premotor and motor cortex. Probabilistic tractography, a technique for identifying fiber pathways from diffusion-weighted imaging (DWI), was used to reconstruct the anatomical networks linking the component brain regions involved in making decisions. These findings demonstrate a relationship between individual differences in functional and structural connectivity within human brain networks central to action choice.

Authors: Boorman, E; O'Shea, J; Sebastian, C; Rushworth, M; Johansen-Berg, H

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Journal: Current biology : CB
• Volume: 17
• Issue: 16
• Pages: 1426-1431
• Publication date: 2007-08-01
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2007.07.040
• EISSN: 1879-0445
• ISSN: 0960-9822
• Language: English
• Keywords: Brain Mapping; Neural Pathways; Female; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Choice Behavior; Individuality; Humans; Adult; Motor Cortex; Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation