Transcriptomic and macroscopic architectures of intersubject functional variability in human brain white-matter

Abstract

Intersubject variability is a fundamental characteristic of brain organizations, and not just “noise”. Although intrinsic functional connectivity (FC) is unique to each individual and varies across brain gray-matter, the underlying mechanisms of intersubject functional variability in white-matter (WM) remain unknown. This study identified WMFC variabilities and determined the genetic basis and macroscale imaging in 45 healthy subjects. The functional localization pattern of intersubject variability across WM is heterogeneous, with most variability observed in the heteromodal cortex. The variabilities of heteromodal regions in expression profiles of genes are related to neuronal cells, involved in synapse-related and glutamic pathways, and associated with psychiatric disorders. In contrast, genes overexpressed in unimodal regions are mostly expressed in glial cells and were related to neurological diseases. Macroscopic variability recapitulates the functional and structural specializations and behavioral phenotypes. Together, our results provide clues to intersubject variabilities of the WMFC with convergent transcriptomic and cellular signatures, which relate to macroscale brain specialization.

Localized activity alternations in periventricular nodular heterotopia‐related epilepsy

“…PNH features ectopic nodules located in the white matter that have been reported to have altered diffusion metrics 23 . Additionally, functional white matter activity and connectivity have been observed both at rest and during tasks 24–27 . However, the local functional neural basis of this disorder is not well understood.…”

“… 23 Additionally, functional white matter activity and connectivity have been observed both at rest and during tasks. 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 However, the local functional neural basis of this disorder is not well understood. In our previous PNH‐related epileptic network investigation, we found that amplitude of low‐frequency fluctuations (ALFFs) had lower amplitude in default mode network (DMN) hubs.…”

Driving brain state transitions in major depressive disorder through external stimulation

“…Second, the white matter (WM) signal was regressed out to focus on the gray matter (GM) signals, which might be another limitation of our study. However, more and more evidence suggested brain white‐matter (WM) signals obtain using BOLD‐fMRI provide functional information about intrinsic activity and can be used to characterize its connectivity (Gong‐Jun Ji et al, 2017 ; Li et al, 2019 ; Li et al, 2021 ). A recent study has identified and replicated robust decreased small‐world topology in two completely independent samples of MDD.…”

Power in network neuroscience

“…noise, motion, scanner effects). Biological variance is at the heart of neuroimaging studies examining how variation and changes in macroscale brain structure and function relate to behaviour and disease [77][78][79].…”