Dissociable intrinsic connectivity networks for salience processing and executive control.
Variations in neural circuitry, inherited or acquired, may underlie important individual differences in thought, feeling, and action patterns. Here, we used task-free connectivity analyses to isolate and characterize two distinct networks typically coactivated during functional MRI tasks. We identified a "salience network," anchored by dorsal anterior cingulate (dACC) and orbital frontoinsular cortices with robust connectivity to subcortical and limbic structures, and an "executive-control network" that links dorsolateral frontal and parietal neocortices. These intrinsic connectivity networks showed dissociable correlations with functions measured outside the scanner. Prescan anxiety ratings correlated with intrinsic functional connectivity of the dACC node of the salience network, but with no region in the executive-control network, whereas executive task performance correlated with lateral parietal nodes of the executive-control network, but with no region in the salience network. Our findings suggest that task-free analysis of intrinsic connectivity networks may help elucidate the neural architectures that support fundamental aspects of human behavior.
Seeley
William W
WW
Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143, USa.
Menon
Vinod
V
Schatzberg
Alan F
AF
Keller
Jennifer
J
Glover
Gary H
GH
Kenna
Heather
H
Reiss
Allan L
AL
Greicius
Michael D
MD
D000222:Adaptation, Physiological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology; D012016:Reference Values; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*