A Modulatory Effect of Brief Passive Exposure to Non-linguistic Sounds on Intrinsic Functional Connectivity: Relevance to Cognitive Performance

Abstract

A growing literature on resting-state fMRI (R-fMRI) has explored the impact of preceding sensory experience on intrinsic functional connectivity (iFC). However, it remains largely unknown how passive exposure to irrelevant auditory stimuli, which is a constant in everyday life, reconfigures iFC. Here, we directly compared pre- and post-exposure R-fMRI scans to examine: 1) modulatory effects of brief passive exposure to repeating non-linguistic sounds on subsequent iFC, and 2) associations between iFC modulations and cognitive abilities. We used an exploratory regional homogeneity (ReHo) approach that indexes local iFC, and performed a linear mixed-effects modeling analysis. A modulatory effect (increase) in ReHo was observed in the right superior parietal lobule (R.SPL) within the parietal attention network. Post hoc seed-based correlation analyses provided further evidence for increased parietal iFC (e.g., R.SPL with the right inferior parietal lobule). Notably, less iFC modulation was associated with better cognitive performance (e.g., word reading). These results suggest that: 1) the parietal attention network dynamically reconfigures its iFC in response to passive (thus irrelevant) non-linguistic sounds, but also 2) minimization of iFC modulation in the same network characterizes better cognitive performance. Our findings may open up new avenues for investigating cognitive disorders that involve impaired sensory processing.

Regional homogeneity as a marker of sensory cortex dysmaturity in preterm infants

“…Prior work has shown that it has high test-retest reliability with only 5 min of rsFMRI data. 32 Furthermore, it has been linked to changes in local excitability and inhibition, 33 , 34 sensory learning, 30 , 35 , 36 , 37 and neurodevelopmental disability. 34 , 38 , 39 Thus, ReHo may be a promising marker of sensory cortex dysmaturity.…”

Thalamus is a common locus of reading, arithmetic, and IQ: Analysis of local intrinsic functional properties

“…Both ReHo and fALFF have successfully detected regions associated with individual differences in cognitive abilities (S. Kuhn, Vanderhasselt, De Raedt, & Gallinat, 2014;Yang et al, 2015), clinical diagnoses/traits (Du, Liu, Hua, & Wu, 2019;Han et al, 2018;Hoexter et al, 2018;Respino et al, 2019;Xu, Zhuo, Qin, Zhu, & Yu, 2015;Xue, Lee, & Guo, 2018), and training/experience effects (Koyama, Ortiz-Mantilla, Roesler, Milham, & Benasich, 2017;Qiu et al, 2019;Salvia et al, 2019;Wu et al, 2019). However, to date, there are only a handful of studies that have applied these metrics to examination of achievement skills, IQ, and/or their relationships.…”

“…For arithmetic, Jolles et al (2016) compared a group of children with mathematical difficulties (i.e., lower arithmetic abilities) and the IQmatched control group, the first of which was characterized by higher fALFF in the intraparietal sulcus -a core region associated with number processing (Dehaene, Piazza, Pinel, & Cohen, 2003) and arithmetic (Bugden, Price, McLean, & Ansari, 2012;Dehaene, Molko, Cohen, & Wilson, 2004;Jolles et al, 2016;Menon, 2010). Regarding ReHo, no study has explored its whole-brain patterns associated with either achievement or IQ measures (but see Koyama et al, 2017 using a region of interest analysis).…”