Department of Neurophysiology and Pathophysiology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, 20246 Hamburg, Germany.
Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2011 Nov 22;108(47):19066-71. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1110024108. Epub 2011 Nov 7.
Correlations in spontaneous brain activity provide powerful access to large-scale organizational principles of the CNS. However, making inferences about cognitive processes requires a detailed understanding of the link between these couplings and the structural integrity of the CNS. We studied the impact of multiple sclerosis, which leads to the severe disintegration of the central white matter, on functional connectivity patterns in spontaneous cortical activity. Using a data driven approach based on the strength of a salient pattern of cognitive pathology, we identified distinct networks that exhibit increases in functional connectivity despite the presence of strong and diffuse reductions of the central white-matter integrity. The default mode network emerged as a core target of these connectivity modulations, showing enhanced functional coupling in bilateral inferior parietal cortex, posterior cingulate, and medial prefrontal cortex. These findings imply a complex and diverging relation of anatomical and functional connectivity in early multiple sclerosis and, thus, add an important observation for understanding how cognitive abilities and CNS integrity may be reflected in the intrinsic covariance of functional signals.
自发性脑活动的相关性为中枢神经系统的大规模组织原则提供了强大的研究手段。然而，要对认知过程进行推断，则需要详细了解这些耦合与中枢神经系统结构完整性之间的联系。我们研究了多发性硬化症对自发性皮质活动功能连接模式的影响，多发性硬化症会导致中枢白质严重解体。我们使用基于认知病理学显著模式强度的数据分析方法，鉴定了尽管中枢白质完整性存在强烈和弥散性降低，但仍表现出功能连接增加的不同网络。默认模式网络是这些连接调制的核心靶点，双侧顶下小叶、后扣带回和内侧前额叶皮质的功能耦合增强。这些发现意味着在多发性硬化早期，解剖学和功能连接之间存在复杂和发散的关系，因此，为理解认知能力和中枢神经系统完整性如何反映在功能信号的固有协方差中提供了重要的观察结果。
