Work

Spontaneous resting-state BOLD fluctuations reveal persistent domain-specific neural networks

Year: 2011

Type: article

Abstract: Resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) analyses have identified intrinsic neural networks supporting domain-general cognitive functions including language, attention, executive control and memory. The brain, however, also has a domain-specific organization, including regions that contribute to perceiving and knowing about others (the 'social' system) or manipulable objects designed to perform specific functions (the 'tool' system). These 'social' and 'tool' systems, however, might not constitute intrinsic neural networks per se, but rather only come online as needed to support retrieval of domain-specific information during social- or tool-related cognitive tasks. To address this issue, we functionally localized two regions in lateral temporal cortex activated when subjects perform social- and tool conceptual tasks. We then compared the strength of the correlations with these seed regions during rs-fcMRI. Here, we show that the 'social' and 'tool' neural networks are maintained even when subjects are not engaged in social- and tool-related information processing, and so constitute intrinsic domain-specific neural networks.

Source: Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience

DOI: 10.1093/scan/nsr018

Authors: W. Kyle Simmons, Alex Martin

Institutions: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Laureate Institute for Brain Research

Language: English

Topic: Functional Brain Connectivity Studies

Subfield: Cognitive Neuroscience

Field: Neuroscience

Domain: Life Sciences

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,379

Funders: National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, NHLBI Division of Intramural Research