Modular co-organization of functional connectivity and scale-free dynamics in the human brain

Zhigalov, A., Arnulfo, G., Nobili, L., Palva, S. and Palva, J. M. (2017) Modular co-organization of functional connectivity and scale-free dynamics in the human brain. Network Neuroscience, 1(2), pp. 143-165. (doi: 10.1162/NETN_a_00008) (PMID:29911674) (PMCID:PMC5988393)

Abstract

Scale-free neuronal dynamics and interareal correlations are emergent characteristics of spontaneous brain activity. How such dynamics and the anatomical patterns of neuronal connectivity are mutually related in brain networks has, however, remained unclear. We addressed this relationship by quantifying the network colocalization of scale-free neuronal activity—both neuronal avalanches and long-range temporal correlations (LRTCs)—and functional connectivity (FC) by means of intracranial and noninvasive human resting-state electrophysiological recordings. We found frequency-specific colocalization of scale-free dynamics and FC so that the interareal couplings of LRTCs and the propagation of neuronal avalanches were most pronounced in the predominant pathways of FC. Several control analyses and the frequency specificity of network colocalization showed that the results were not trivial by-products of either brain dynamics or our analysis approach. Crucially, scale-free neuronal dynamics and connectivity also had colocalized modular structures at multiple levels of network organization, suggesting that modules of FC would be endowed with partially independent dynamic states. These findings thus suggest that FC and scale-free dynamics—hence, putatively, neuronal criticality as well—coemerge in a hierarchically modular structure in which the modules are characterized by dense connectivity, avalanche propagation, and shared dynamic states.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Palva, Professor Satu and Palva, Professor Matias
• Authors: Zhigalov, A., Arnulfo, G., Nobili, L., Palva, S., and Palva, J. M.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Psychology & Neuroscience
• Journal Name: Network Neuroscience
• Publisher: MIT Press
• ISSN: 2472-1751
• Published Online: 30 June 2017
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2017 Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• First Published: First published in Network Neuroscience 1(2):143-165
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License