title: Association between structural and functional connectivity in the verb generation network.
abstract: The decade-long endeavor to link brain structure with brain function has met with varying degrees of success. Recent advances in imaging techniques allow a fresh look at the issue, however. In the current investigation, functional magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) were employed to directly investigate the link between functional connectivity during a verb generation task and the underlying structural substrate. Nineteen participants performed a verb generation task during functional scanning and also underwent DTI. A psychophysiological interaction analysis was used to map the functional networks recruited during the task and as an index of functional connectivity. The degree to which this correlated with diffusion measures was used to explore the existence of anatomofunctional relationships within the identified connections. A significant correlation was seen for the middle frontal (MFG) to precentral gyrus pathway, where a pattern of low fractional anisotropy and high perpendicular diffusion was associated with low functional connectivity. A second pathway between the MFG and inferior temporal gyrus did not show a significant correlation, which may be attributed to two independent factors that might be influencing the structural properties of this pathway. The variation in structure function relationships within this network may relate to each pathways involvement in different cognitive functions.
authors.affiliation: Research Centre for Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Psychology, University of Auckland , Auckland, New Zealand .
authors.forename: Sarina Jennifer
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Iwabuchi
authors.forename: Ian J
authors.initials: IJ
authors.lastname: Kirk
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D056324:Diffusion Tensor Imaging / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology*; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000502:physiology; D014825:Vocabulary; D055815:Young Adult