A method for reconstruction of interpretable brain networks from transient synchronization in resting-state BOLD fluctuations

Front Neuroinform. 2023 Jan 12:16:960607. doi: 10.3389/fninf.2022.960607. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

Resting-state (rs) fMRI has been widely used to examine brain-wide large-scale spatiotemporal architectures, known as resting-state networks (RSNs). Recent studies have focused on the temporally evolving characteristics of RSNs, but it is unclear what temporal characteristics are reflected in the networks. To address this issue, we devised a novel method for voxel-based visualization of spatiotemporal characteristics of rs-fMRI with a time scale of tens of seconds. We first extracted clusters of dominant activity-patterns using a region-of-interest approach and then used these temporal patterns of the clusters to obtain voxel-based activation patterns related to the clusters. We found that activation patterns related to the clusters temporally evolved with a characteristic temporal structure and showed mutual temporal alternations over minutes. The voxel-based representation allowed the decoding of activation patterns of the clusters in rs-fMRI using a meta-analysis of functional activations. The activation patterns of the clusters were correlated with behavioral measures. Taken together, our analysis highlights a novel approach to examine brain activity dynamics during rest.

Keywords: Human Connectome Project; individual difference; resting-state fMRI; task fMRI; temporal dynamics.

Grants and funding

This study was supported by JSPS Kakenhi (17K01989, 17H05957, 17H00891, 26350986, and 26120711 to KJ; JP21H0516513 to TM); grants from Uehara Memorial Foundation; Takeda Science Foundation to KJ; and JST-PRESTO (19205833) to TM.