Heritability and Interindividual Variability of Regional Structure-function Coupling

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2021 Aug 13

PMID 34385454

Citations 52

Authors

Zijin Gu

Keith Wakefield Jamison

Mert Rory Sabuncu

Amy Kuceyeski

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

White matter structural connections are likely to support flow of functional activation or functional connectivity. While the relationship between structural and functional connectivity profiles, here called SC-FC coupling, has been studied on a whole-brain, global level, few studies have investigated this relationship at a regional scale. Here we quantify regional SC-FC coupling in healthy young adults using diffusion-weighted MRI and resting-state functional MRI data from the Human Connectome Project and study how SC-FC coupling may be heritable and varies between individuals. We show that regional SC-FC coupling strength varies widely across brain regions, but was strongest in highly structurally connected visual and subcortical areas. We also show interindividual regional differences based on age, sex and composite cognitive scores, and that SC-FC coupling was highly heritable within certain networks. These results suggest regional structure-function coupling is an idiosyncratic feature of brain organisation that may be influenced by genetic factors.

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