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Luppi AI, Gellersen HM, Liu ZQ, Peattie ARD, Manktelow AE, Adapa R, Owen AM, Naci L, Menon DK, Dimitriadis SI, Stamatakis EA. Systematic evaluation of fMRI data-processing pipelines for consistent functional connectomics. Nat Commun 2024; 15:4745. [PMID: 38834553 PMCID: PMC11150439 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-48781-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2022] [Accepted: 05/10/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Functional interactions between brain regions can be viewed as a network, enabling neuroscientists to investigate brain function through network science. Here, we systematically evaluate 768 data-processing pipelines for network reconstruction from resting-state functional MRI, evaluating the effect of brain parcellation, connectivity definition, and global signal regression. Our criteria seek pipelines that minimise motion confounds and spurious test-retest discrepancies of network topology, while being sensitive to both inter-subject differences and experimental effects of interest. We reveal vast and systematic variability across pipelines' suitability for functional connectomics. Inappropriate choice of data-processing pipeline can produce results that are not only misleading, but systematically so, with the majority of pipelines failing at least one criterion. However, a set of optimal pipelines consistently satisfy all criteria across different datasets, spanning minutes, weeks, and months. We provide a full breakdown of each pipeline's performance across criteria and datasets, to inform future best practices in functional connectomics.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrea I Luppi
- Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- St John's College, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada.
| | - Helena M Gellersen
- German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, Magdeburg, Germany
- Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Zhen-Qi Liu
- Montreal Neurological Institute, McGill University, Montreal, Canada
| | - Alexander R D Peattie
- Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Anne E Manktelow
- Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Ram Adapa
- Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Adrian M Owen
- Department of Psychology, Western Institute for Neuroscience (WIN), Western University, London, ON, Canada
- Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, Western Institute for Neuroscience (WIN), Western University, London, ON, Canada
| | - Lorina Naci
- Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience, School of Psychology, Trinity College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
| | - David K Menon
- Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
| | - Stavros I Dimitriadis
- Department of Clinical Psychology and Psychobiology, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institut de Neurociències, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Neuroinformatics Group, Cardiff University Brain Research Imaging Centre (CUBRIC), School of Psychology, College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff, Wales, UK
- Division of Psychological Medicine and Clinical Neurosciences, School of Medicine, College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK
- Neuroscience and Mental Health Research Institute, School of Medicine, College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK
- MRC Centre for Neuropsychiatric Genetics and Genomics, School of Medicine, College of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Cardiff University, Cardiff, Wales, UK
- Integrative Neuroimaging Lab, Thessaloniki, Greece
| | - Emmanuel A Stamatakis
- Division of Anaesthesia, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
- Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
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Guichet C, Banjac S, Achard S, Mermillod M, Baciu M. Modeling the neurocognitive dynamics of language across the lifespan. Hum Brain Mapp 2024; 45:e26650. [PMID: 38553863 PMCID: PMC10980845 DOI: 10.1002/hbm.26650] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/17/2023] [Revised: 02/08/2024] [Accepted: 02/26/2024] [Indexed: 04/02/2024] Open
Abstract
Healthy aging is associated with a heterogeneous decline across cognitive functions, typically observed between language comprehension and language production (LP). Examining resting-state fMRI and neuropsychological data from 628 healthy adults (age 18-88) from the CamCAN cohort, we performed state-of-the-art graph theoretical analysis to uncover the neural mechanisms underlying this variability. At the cognitive level, our findings suggest that LP is not an isolated function but is modulated throughout the lifespan by the extent of inter-cognitive synergy between semantic and domain-general processes. At the cerebral level, we show that default mode network (DMN) suppression coupled with fronto-parietal network (FPN) integration is the way for the brain to compensate for the effects of dedifferentiation at a minimal cost, efficiently mitigating the age-related decline in LP. Relatedly, reduced DMN suppression in midlife could compromise the ability to manage the cost of FPN integration. This may prompt older adults to adopt a more cost-efficient compensatory strategy that maintains global homeostasis at the expense of LP performances. Taken together, we propose that midlife represents a critical neurocognitive juncture that signifies the onset of LP decline, as older adults gradually lose control over semantic representations. We summarize our findings in a novel synergistic, economical, nonlinear, emergent, cognitive aging model, integrating connectomic and cognitive dimensions within a complex system perspective.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Sonja Banjac
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS LPNC UMR 5105GrenobleFrance
| | - Sophie Achard
- LJK, UMR CNRS 5224, Université Grenoble AlpesGrenobleFrance
| | | | - Monica Baciu
- Université Grenoble Alpes, CNRS LPNC UMR 5105GrenobleFrance
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Metzen D, Stammen C, Fraenz C, Schlüter C, Johnson W, Güntürkün O, DeYoung CG, Genç E. Investigating robust associations between functional connectivity based on graph theory and general intelligence. Sci Rep 2024; 14:1368. [PMID: 38228689 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-51333-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/14/2023] [Accepted: 12/29/2023] [Indexed: 01/18/2024] Open
Abstract
Previous research investigating relations between general intelligence and graph-theoretical properties of the brain's intrinsic functional network has yielded contradictory results. A promising approach to tackle such mixed findings is multi-center analysis. For this study, we analyzed data from four independent data sets (total N > 2000) to identify robust associations amongst samples between g factor scores and global as well as node-specific graph metrics. On the global level, g showed no significant associations with global efficiency or small-world propensity in any sample, but significant positive associations with global clustering coefficient in two samples. On the node-specific level, elastic-net regressions for nodal efficiency and local clustering yielded no brain areas that exhibited consistent associations amongst data sets. Using the areas identified via elastic-net regression in one sample to predict g in other samples was not successful for local clustering and only led to one significant, one-way prediction across data sets for nodal efficiency. Thus, using conventional graph theoretical measures based on resting-state imaging did not result in replicable associations between functional connectivity and general intelligence.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dorothea Metzen
- Biopsychology, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801, Bochum, Germany.
- Institute of Psychology, Department of Educational Sciences and Psychology, TU Dortmund University, 44227, Dortmund, Germany.
| | - Christina Stammen
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), 44139, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Christoph Fraenz
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), 44139, Dortmund, Germany
| | - Caroline Schlüter
- Biopsychology, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801, Bochum, Germany
| | - Wendy Johnson
- Department of Psychology, University of Edinburgh, EH8 9JZ, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Onur Güntürkün
- Biopsychology, Institute for Cognitive Neuroscience, Faculty of Psychology, Ruhr-University Bochum, 44801, Bochum, Germany
| | - Colin G DeYoung
- Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, 55455, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Erhan Genç
- Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo), 44139, Dortmund, Germany
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Xing XX, Gao X, Jiang C. Individual Variability of Human Cortical Spontaneous Activity by 3T/7T fMRI. Neuroscience 2023; 528:117-128. [PMID: 37544577 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2023.07.032] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/10/2022] [Revised: 07/29/2023] [Accepted: 07/31/2023] [Indexed: 08/08/2023]
Abstract
Mapping variability in cortical spontaneous activity (CSA) is an essential goal of understanding various sources of dark brain energy in human neuroscience. CSA was traditionally characterized using resting-state functional MRI (rfMRI) at 1.5T or 3T magnets while recently with 7T-rfMRI. However, the utility and interpretability of 7T-rfMRI must first be established for its variability. By leveraging rfMRI data from the Human Connectome Project (HCP), we derived CSA metrics with 3T-rfMRI and 7T-rfMRI for the same 84 healthy participants (52 females). The 7T-rfMRI produces different CSA metrics at multiple spatial-scales and their variability from the 3T-rfMRI. These differences were spatially dependent and varied according to specific cortical organization. For the amplitude metric, 7T-rfMRI enhanced its spatial contrasts in the anterior cortex but weakened it in the posterior cortex. An opposite pattern was observed for the connectivity metrics. The reliability changes of these metrics were scale dependent, indicating enhanced reliability for connectivity but weakened reliability for amplitude by 7T-rfMRI. These effects were primarily located in the high-order associate cortex, parsing the corresponding changes in individual differences with respect to 7T-rfMRI: (1) higher connectivity variability between participants and the lower connectivity variability within individual participants, and (2) lower amplitude variability between participants and higher amplitude variability within participants. Our work, for the first time, demonstrated the variability of the human CSA across space, rfMRI settings/platforms, and individuals. We discussed the statistical implications of our findings on CSA-based experimental designs and reproducible neuroscience as well as their translational value for personalized applications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiu-Xia Xing
- Department of Applied Mathematics, College of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, Beijing University of Technology, Beijing 100124, China.
| | - Xiao Gao
- School of Psychology, Capital Normal University, Beijing 100048, China
| | - Chao Jiang
- Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing 400715, China
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