HighlightsOverlap between semantic control and action understanding revealed with fMRI.Overlap found in left inferior frontal and posterior middle temporal cortex.Peaks for action and difficulty were spatially identical in LIFG.Peaks for action and difficulty were distinct in occipital–temporal cortex.Difficult trials recruited additional ventral occipital–temporal areas.

The speed of motor reaction to an external stimulus varies substantially between individuals and is slowed in aging. However, the neuroanatomical origins of interindividual variability in reaction time (RT) remain unclear. Here, we combined a cognitive model of RT and a biophysical compartment model of diffusion-weighted MRI (DWI) to characterize the relationship between RT and microstructure of the corticospinal tract (CST) and the optic radiation (OR), the primary motor output and visual input pathways associated with visual-motor responses. We fitted an accumulator model of RT to 46 female human participants' behavioral performance in a simple reaction time task. The non-decision time parameter ( T er ) derived from the model was used to account for the latencies of stimulus encoding and action initiation. From multi-shell DWI data, we quantified tissue microstructure of the CST and OR with the neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging (NODDI) model as well as the conventional diffusion tensor imaging model. Using novel skeletonization and segmentation approaches, we showed that DWI-based microstructure metrics varied substantially along CST and OR. The T er of individual participants was negatively correlated with the NODDI measure of the neurite density in the bilateral superior CST. Further, we found no significant correlation between the microstructural measures and mean RT. Thus, our findings suggest a link between interindividual differences in sensorimotor speed and selective microstructural properties in white-matter tracts. SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT How does our brain structure contribute to our speed to react? Here, we provided anatomically specific evidence that interindividual differences in response speed is associated with white-matter microstructure. Using a cognitive model of reaction time (RT), we estimated the non-decision time, as an index of the latencies of stimulus encoding and action initiation, during a simple reaction time task. Using an advanced microstructural model for diffusion MRI, we estimated the tissue properties and their variations along the corticospinal tract and optic radiation. We found significant location-specific correlations between the microstructural measures and the model-derived parameter of non-decision time but not mean RT. These results highlight the neuroanatomical signature of interindividual variability in response speed along the sensorimotor pathways.

Precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex (PCu/PCC) are key components of a midline network, activated during rest but also in tasks that involve construction of scene or situation models. Despite growing interest in PCu/PCC functional alterations in disease and disease risk, the underlying neurochemical modulators of PCu/PCC's task‐evoked activity are largely unstudied. Here, a multimodal imaging approach was applied to investigate whether interindividual differences in PCu/PCC fMRI activity, elicited during perceptual discrimination of scene stimuli, were correlated with local brain metabolite levels, measured during resting‐state 1 H‐MRS. Forty healthy young adult participants completed an fMRI perceptual odd‐one‐out task for scenes, objects and faces. 1 H‐MRS metabolites N ‐acetyl‐aspartate (tNAA), glutamate (Glx) and γ‐amino‐butyric acid (GABA+) were quantified via PRESS and MEGA‐PRESS scans in a PCu/PCC voxel and an occipital (OCC) control voxel. Whole brain fMRI revealed a cluster in right dorsal PCu/PCC that showed a greater BOLD response to scenes versus faces and objects. When extracted from an independently defined PCu/PCC region of interest, scene activity (vs. faces and objects and also vs. baseline) was positively correlated with PCu/PCC, but not OCC, tNAA. A voxel‐wise regression analysis restricted to the PCu/PCC 1 H‐MRS voxel area identified a significant PCu/PCC cluster, confirming the positive correlation between scene‐related BOLD activity and PCu/PCC tNAA. There were no correlations between PCu/PCC activity and Glx or GABA+ levels. These results demonstrate, for the first time, that scene activity in PCu/PCC is linked to local tNAA levels, identifying a neurochemical influence on interindividual differences in the task‐driven activity of a key brain hub.

Precuneus/posterior cingulate cortex (PCu/PCC) are key components of a midline network, activated during rest but also in tasks that involve construction of scene or situation models. Despite growing interest in PCu/PCC functional alterations in disease, the underlying neurochemical modulators of PCu/PCC's task-induced activity are largely unstudied. Here, a multimodal imaging approach was applied to investigate whether inter-individual differences in PCu/PCC fMRI activity, elicited during perceptual discrimination of scene stimuli, were correlated with local brain metabolite levels, measured during resting-state 1 H-MRS. Forty healthy young adult participants (12 male) completed an fMRI perceptual odd-one-out task for scenes, objects and faces. 1 H-MRS metabolites N-acetylaspartate (tNAA), glutamate (Glx) and γ-amino-butyric acid (GABA+) were quantified via PRESS and MEGA-PRESS scans in a PCu/PCC voxel and an occipital (OCC) control voxel. Whole brain fMRI revealed a cluster in right dorsal PCu/PCC that showed a greater BOLD response to scenes versus faces and objects. When extracted from an independently defined PCu/PCC region of interest, scene activity (versus faces and objects and also versus baseline) was positively correlated with PCu/PCC, but not OCC, tNAA. A complementary fMRI analysis restricted to the PCu/PCC MRS voxel area identified a significant PCu/PCC cluster, confirming the positive correlation between scene-related BOLD activity and PCu/PCC tNAA. There were no correlations between PCu/PCC fMRI activity and Glx or GABA+ levels. These results demonstrate, for the first time, that scene activity in PCu/PCC is linked to local tNAA levels, identifying a neurochemical influence on inter-individual differences in the task-driven activity of a key brain hub.

1 Across the lifespan, curiosity motivates us to learn, yet curiosity varies strikingly between 2 individuals. Such individual differences have been shown for two distinct dimensions of 3 curiosity: epistemic curiosity (EC), the desire to acquire knowledge about facts, and 4 perceptual curiosity (PC), the desire for sensory information. It is not known, however, 5 whether both dimensions of curiosity depend on different brain networks and whether inter-6 individual differences in curiosity depend on variation in anatomical connectivity within these 7 networks. Here, we investigated the neuroanatomical connections underpinning individual 8 variation in trait curiosity. Fifty-one female participants underwent a two-shell diffusion MRI 9 sequence and completed questionnaires measuring EC and PC. Using deterministic 10 spherical deconvolution tractography we extracted microstructural metrics (fractional 11 anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity (MD)) from two key white matter tracts: the fornix 12 (implicated in novelty processing, exploration, information seeking and episodic memory) 13 and the inferior longitudinal fasciculus (ILF) (implicated in semantic learning and memory). In 14 line with our predictions, we found that EC -but not PC -correlated with ILF microstructure. 15Fornix microstructure, in contrast, correlated with both EC and PC with posterior 16 hippocampal fornix fibres -associated with posterior hippocampal network connectivity -17 linked to PC specifically. These findings suggest that differences in distinct dimensions of 18 curiosity map systematically onto specific white matter tracts underlying well characterized 19 brain networks. Furthermore, the results pave the way to study the anatomical substrates of 20 inter-individual differences in dimensions of trait curiosity that motivate the learning of 21 distinct forms of knowledge and skills. 22 Significance statement 23Despite recent interest in curiosity states and the broad spectrum of variation in stable 24 tendencies to experience or express curiosity, the biological correlates of trait curiosity are 25 unknown. Here, we found that specific types of curiosity correlate with microstructure of 26 specific white matter tracts in the brain -the inferior longitudinal fasciculus and the fornix. 27Our findings on the relationship between specific aspects of curiosity and anatomical 28 connections underlying well characterized brain networks highlight the specificity of trait 29 curiosity. Furthermore, our findings pave the way to further understand inter-individual 30 differences in curiosity and which aspects of curiosity benefit language, memory and other 31 cognitive processes cultivating a deeper knowledge and skill set. 32 4 Introduction 33Curiosity is described as the desire for new information that motivates seeking out and 34 acquiring knowledge (Loewenstein, 1994; Litman, 2005). The momentary experience of 35 curiosity can be seen as a motivational state that facilitates knowledge acquisition (Silvia & 36 Kashdan, 2009; Gottlieb and Oudeyer,...