title: Handedness- and brain size-related efficiency differences in small-world brain networks: a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging study.
abstract: The human brain has been described as a complex network, which integrates information with high efficiency. However, the relationships between the efficiency of human brain functional networks and handedness and brain size remain unclear. Twenty-one left-handed and 32 right-handed healthy subjects underwent a resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging scan. The whole brain functional networks were constructed by thresholding Pearson correlation matrices of 90 cortical and subcortical regions. Graph theory-based methods were employed to further analyze their topological properties. As expected, all participants demonstrated small-world topology, suggesting a highly efficient topological structure. Furthermore, we found that smaller brains showed higher local efficiency, whereas larger brains showed higher global efficiency, reflecting a suitable efficiency balance between local specialization and global integration of brain functional activity. Compared with right-handers, significant alterations in nodal efficiency were revealed in left-handers, involving the anterior and median cingulate gyrus, middle temporal gyrus, angular gyrus, and amygdala. Our findings indicated that the functional network organization in the human brain was associated with handedness and brain size.
authors.affiliation: 1 Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China , Chengdu, China .
authors.forename: Meiling
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Junping
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Feng
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Heng
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Fengmei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.forename: Guorong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Chunshui
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.forename: Huafu
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D007839:Functional Laterality / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology; D009929:Organ Size / Q000502:physiology; D012044:Regression Analysis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results
keywords: brain size; efficiency; functional connectivity; handedness; small-world