State-dependent variability of dynamic functional connectivity between frontoparietal and default networks relates to cognitive flexibility

Abstract

The brain is a dynamic, flexible network that continuously reconfigures. However, the neural underpinnings of how state-dependent variability of dynamic functional connectivity (vdFC) relates to cognitive flexibility, are unclear. We therefore investigated flexible functional connectivity during resting-state and task-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI and t-fMRI, resp.) and performed separate, out-of-scanner neuropsychological testing. We hypothesize that state-dependent vdFC between the frontoparietal network (FPN) and the default mode network (DMN) relates to cognitive flexibility. Seventeen healthy subjects performed the Stroop color word test and underwent t-fMRI (Stroop computerized version) and rs-fMRI. Time series were extracted from a cortical atlas, and a sliding window approach was used to obtain a number of correlation matrices per subject. vdFC was defined as the standard deviation of connectivity strengths over these windows. Higher task-state FPN-DMN vdFC was associated with greater out-of-scanner cognitive flexibility, while the opposite relationship was present for resting-state FPN-DMN vdFC. Moreover, greater contrast between task-state and resting-state vdFC related to better cognitive performance. In conclusion, our results suggest that not only the dynamics of connectivity between these networks is seminal for optimal functioning, but also that the contrast between dynamics across states reflects cognitive performance.

Activation‐based association profiles differentiate network roles across cognitive loads

“…Furthermore, by decomposing the connectivity into connectional strength and connectional connectivity (namely, nodal connectivity diversity), we unveiled two different properties of the DMN and FPN under different cognitive loads (2‐back and 0‐back), that is, flexibility and strength, respectively (Zuo et al, ). These results agree with our findings that the DMN and the FPN simultaneously showed strong ASS and SASS with other networks, signifying that these two networks globally modulated the functions of the brain in the WM test (Cassidy et al, ; Douw, Wakeman, Tanaka, Liu, & Stufflebeam, ; Godwin, Ji, Kandala, & Mamah, ).…”

Brain networks of the imaginative mind: Dynamic functional connectivity of default and cognitive control networks relates to openness to experience

“…Recent work suggests that default‐control network coupling broadly reflects goal directed, self‐generated thought, with the control network directing spontaneous default activity to meet higher‐order goals (Beaty et al, ; Pinho et al, ; Spreng et al, ). The tendency to engage multiple brain systems thus may correspond to a relative advantage of people high in Openness to dynamically reconfigure relevant brain networks when thinking flexibly and creatively, consistent with the notion that neural flexibility supports cognitive flexibility (cf., Braun et al, ; Douw et al, ). It remains unclear, however, whether Openness is associated with enhanced network coupling during cognitive tasks, an open and promising question for future research.…”

“…Recent neuroimaging research has sought to identify cognitive functions associated with the interaction of large‐scale functional brain networks (Braun et al, ; Douw, Wakeman, Tanaka, Liu, & Stufflebeam, ; Kucyi, Hove, Esterman, Hutchison, & Valera, ; Medaglia, Lynall, & Bassett, ). Of particular interest has been the brain's default network (DN), a set of cortical midline, medial temporal, and inferior parietal regions that activate during the resting‐state and during cognitive processes that involve self‐generated thought, such as mind‐wandering, episodic memory retrieval, future imagination, mentalizing, and creative cognition (Andrews‐Hanna, Smallwood, & Spreng, ; Buckner, Andrews‐Hanna, & Schacter, ; Raichle, ).…”

The importance of hippocampal dynamic connectivity in explaining memory function in multiple sclerosis

“…Dynamic FC was measured using a sliding window approach (see Figure ). Based on previous studies (Douw et al., ; Leonardi, Shirer, Greicius, & Van De Ville, ; Leonardi & Van De Ville, ), the fMRI time series were divided into 35 sliding windows with a length and shift of 59.9 and 11.1 s, respectively. For each window, sFC was calculated.…”

“…This could imply that strong and stable connectivity (high sFC, low dFC) is necessary for task execution. However, during performance of an executive functioning task, an opposite relationship has been found, namely a positive relationship between dFC of the frontoparietal network (important for cognitive control) and in‐scanner cognitive performance (Cole et al., ) and executive functioning outside the scanner (Douw et al., ). Additionally, during simple motor learning, dynamics of certain brain regions seem to be a predictor for learning effects in a future session in healthy subjects (Bassett et al., ).…”