2020_NI_丘脑功能梯度及其与结构基础和认知相关性的关系

文献原文：The thalamic functional gradient and its relationship to structural basis and cognitive relevance
NeuroImage ( IF 6.556 ) Pub Date : 2020-09-01 , DOI: 10.1016/j.neuroimage.2020.116960
Siqi Yang, Yao Meng, Jiao Li, Bing Li, Yun-Shuang Fan, Huafu Chen, Wei Liao

The human thalamus is an integrative hub richly connected with cortical networks, involving diverse cognitive functions. Emerging evidence suggests that multiscale structural and functional gradients integrate various information across modalities into an abstract representation. However, the presence of functional gradients in the thalamus and its relationship to structural properties and cognitive functions remain unknown. We estimated the functional gradients of the thalamus in two independent normal cohorts using a novel diffusion embedding analysis. We identified two main axes of the functional connectivity patterns, and examined associations with thalamic anatomy, morphology, intrinsic geometry, and specific behavioral relevance. We found that the dominant gradient indicated a lateral/medial axis across the thalamus and captured associations with anatomical nuclei and gray matter volume. The second gradient was an anterior/posterior axis and provided a behavioral characterization from lower level perception to higher level cognition. Furthermore, these two gradients strongly correlated with spatial distance, indicating the prominence of intrinsic geometry in functional hierarchies. These findings were replicated in an independent dataset. Overall, our findings suggested that macroscale gradients showed a coordination of structural and functional interactions, with hierarchical organization contributing to behavior characterization.

翻译：
丘脑功能梯度及其与结构基础和认知相关性的关系

人类丘脑是一个与皮质网络紧密相连的综合枢纽，涉及多种认知功能。新出现的证据表明，多尺度结构和功能梯度将跨模态的各种信息整合到抽象表示中。然而，丘脑中功能梯度的存在及其与结构特性和认知功能的关系仍然未知。我们使用新的扩散嵌入分析估计了两个独立的正常队列中丘脑的功能梯度。我们确定了功能连接模式的两个主轴，并检查了与丘脑解剖学、形态学、内在几何学和特定行为相关性的关联。我们发现主要梯度表明横贯丘脑的横向/中间轴并捕获与解剖核和灰质体积的关联。第二个梯度是一个前/后轴，提供了从较低层次的感知到较高层次的认知的行为特征。此外，这两个梯度与空间距离​​密切相关，表明内在几何结构在功能层次结构中的重要性。这些发现被复制到一个独立的数据集中。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，宏观梯度显示出结构和功能相互作用的协调，分层组织有助于行为表征。第二个梯度是一个前/后轴，提供了从较低层次的感知到较高层次的认知的行为特征。此外，这两个梯度与空间距离​​密切相关，表明内在几何结构在功能层次结构中的重要性。这些发现被复制到一个独立的数据集中。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，宏观梯度显示出结构和功能相互作用的协调，分层组织有助于行为表征。第二个梯度是一个前/后轴，提供了从较低层次的感知到较高层次的认知的行为特征。此外，这两个梯度与空间距离​​密切相关，表明内在几何结构在功能层次结构中的重要性。这些发现被复制到一个独立的数据集中。总体而言，我们的研究结果表明，宏观梯度显示出结构和功能相互作用的协调，分层组织有助于行为表征。

来源：https://www.x-mol.com/paper/1264655997804322816