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The brain recruits neuronal populations in a temporally coordinated manner in task and at rest. However, the extent to which large-scale networks exhibit their own organized temporal dynamics is unclear. We use an approach designed to find repeating network patterns in whole-brain resting fMRI data, where networks are defined as graphs of interacting brain areas. We find that the transitions between networks are nonrandom, with certain networks more likely to occur after others. Further, this nonrandom sequencing is itself hierarchically organized, revealing two distinct sets of networks, or metastates, that the brain has a tendency to cycle within. One metastate is associated with sensory and motor regions, and the other involves areas related to higher order cognition. Moreover, we find that the proportion of time that a subject spends in each brain network and metastate is a consistent subject-specific measure, is heritable, and shows a significant relationship with cognitive traits.

Original publication

DOI

10.1073/pnas.1705120114

Type

Journal article

Journal

Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A

Publication Date

28/11/2017

Volume

114

Pages

12827 - 12832

Keywords

dynamic functional connectivity, hidden Markov model, metastates, resting-state networks, Adult, Brain, Brain Mapping, Cognition, Female, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Models, Neurological, Nerve Net, Neural Pathways, Quantitative Trait, Heritable, Rest, Task Performance and Analysis, Time Factors