The developing relations between networks of cortical myelin and neurophysiological connectivity

Abstract

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title><jats:p>Recent work identified that patterns of distributed brain regions sharing similar myeloarchitecture are related to underlying functional connectivity, demonstrating cortical myelin’s plasticity to changes in functional demand. However, the changing relation between functional connectivity and structural architecture throughout child and adulthood is poorly understood. We show that structural covariance connectivity measured using T1-weighted/T2-weighted ratio and functional connectivity measured using magnetoencephalography exhibit nonlinear developmental changes. We then show significant relations between structural and functional connectivity, which have both shared and distinct characteristics dependent on the neural oscillatory frequency. Increases in structure-function coupling are visible during the protracted myelination observed throughout childhood and adolescence, and are followed by decreases near the onset of adulthood to potentially support increasing cognitive flexibility and functional specialization in adulthood. Our work lays the foundation for understanding the mechanisms by which myeloarchitecture supports brain function, enabling future investigations into how clinical populations may deviate from normative patterns.</jats:p>

Stress and the brain: Emotional support mediates the association between myelination in the right supramarginal gyrus and perceived chronic stress

“…Patients with PTSD were shown to have alterations in neural activity and functional connectivity of the SMG as compared to healthy controls ( Bastos et al, 2022 ; Dossi et al, 2020 ; Felmingham et al, 2009 ; Rabellino et al, 2018 ). In addition, preliminary evidence has suggested that the associations of ICM with cognitive function may be through its importance for the integrity of neural connections and neural synchrony of cerebral cortex, particularly the facilitation of local brain synchrony ( Grydeland et al, 2016 ; Vandewouw et al, 2021 ; Yang et al, 2020 ). Demyelination has been considered as a biomarker for some neurological diseases such as multiple sclerosis ( Lucchinetti et al, 2011 ).…”

Dissociable oscillatory theta signatures of memory formation in the developing brain

“…Indeed, structure-function relationships in brain connectivity are notoriously complex. 69,70 To disentangle these alternatives, we analyzed paired diffusion data of the cingulum and uncinate tracts from a subset of patients. Bayesian analysis provided an initial test due to limitations of the small sample 71 and suggested that age-related differences in both coupling mechanisms reflect maturation of the cingulum.…”

Network properties of intracortical myelin associated with psychosocial functioning in bipolar I disorder

“…Graph theoretical measures have been increasingly used in an effort to accurately represent structural and functional dependence among brain regions 24,25 . Previous studies have shown that structural covariance networks derived from cortical myelin values align to a significant extent with functional connectivity networks 26,27 . Several studies have observed significant structural network changes in other brain disorders such as schizophrenia/psychosis, 28,29 obsessive‐compulsive disorder, 30 mild traumatic brain injury, 31 Parkinson's disease, 32 Alzheimer's disease 33 and binge drinking 34 .…”