Relationships Between Brain Intrinsic Connectivity Networks and Measures of Cognition and Emotion: A Study of the Human Connectome Project Data

Growing evidence suggests that variations in cognitive and emotional behavior are associated with variations in brain function. To achieve a more comprehensive assessment, data-driven techniques, specifically independent component analysis (ICA), can be employed to generate outcome variables that describe unique but complementary aspects of functional connectivity within and between networks. In this study, resting-state fMRI and behavioral data were collected from 50 healthy participants in the Human Connectome Project. The neuropsychological battery evaluated performance in various domains, including episodic memory, fluid intelligence, attention, working memory, executive function, cognitive flexibility, inhibition, and processing speed. Emotional measures were also included to assess emotion recognition and negative affects (sadness, fear, and anger). A multivariate approach was adopted to evaluate the association between cognitive abilities and emotional correlates on spatiotemporal features of intrinsic connectivity networks (ICNs). The results were explored at a false discovery rate-corrected threshold of p < 0:05. There was a significant positive association between within-network connectivity of the left central executive network (CEN) and inhibitory control and attention, and a significant negative association between within-network connectivity of the right CEN and episodic memory. Furthermore, increased within-network connectivity of the default-mode network (DMN) was linked to higher fluid intelligence, while within-network connectivity in the salience network (SN) and dorsal attention network (DAN) was associated with cognitive flexibility. Anger was found to be significantly related to increased functional network connectivity between SN and CEN. Sadness and fear were associated with increased within-network connectivity of the right CEN. Additionally, fear was associated with low-frequency spectral power in SN and DMN. These findings offer new insights into the intricate relation between ICN features and cognitive and emotional functions.