Functional Connectivity and Brain Activation: A Synergistic Approach

Traditional functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies exploit endogenous brain activity for mapping brain activation during "periodic" cognitive/emotional challenges or brain functional connectivity during the "resting state". Previous studies demonstrated that these approaches provide a limited view of brain function which can be complemented by each other. We hypothesized that graph theory functional connectivity density (FCD) mapping would demonstrate regional FCD decreases between resting-state scan and a continuous "task-state" scan. Forty-five healthy volunteers underwent functional connectivity MRI during resting-state as well as a continuous visual attention task, and standard fMRI with a blocked version of the visual attention task. High-resolution data-driven FCD mapping was used to measure task-related connectivity changes without a priori hypotheses. Results demonstrate that task performance was associated with FCD decreases in brain regions weakly activated/deactivated by the task. Furthermore, a pronounced negative correlation between blood oxygen level-dependent-fMRI activation and task-related FCD decreases emerged across brain regions that also suggest the disconnection of task-irrelevant networks during task performance. The correlation between improved accuracy and stronger FCD decreases further suggests the disconnection of task-irrelevant networks during task performance. Functional connectivity can potentiate traditional fMRI studies and offer a more complete picture of brain function.