title: Analyzing the association between functional connectivity of the brain and intellectual performance.
abstract: Measurements of functional connectivity support the hypothesis that the brain is composed of distinct networks with anatomically separated nodes but common functionality. A few studies have suggested that intellectual performance may be associated with greater functional connectivity in the fronto-parietal network and enhanced global efficiency. In this fMRI study, we performed an exploratory analysis of the relationship between the brain's functional connectivity and intelligence scores derived from the Portuguese language version of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale (WAIS-III) in a sample of 29 people, born and raised in Brazil. We examined functional connectivity between 82 regions, including graph theoretic properties of the overall network. Some previous findings were extended to the Portuguese-speaking population, specifically the presence of small-world organization of the brain and relationships of intelligence with connectivity of frontal, pre-central, parietal, occipital, fusiform and supramarginal gyrus, and caudate nucleus. Verbal comprehension was associated with global network efficiency, a new finding.
authors.affiliation: InBrain Lab, Department of Physics, Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gustavo S P
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Pamplona
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Gérson S
authors.initials: GS
authors.lastname: Santos Neto
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sara R E
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Rosset
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, Department of Biomedical Engineering, Institute of Imaging Science, Vanderbilt University Nashville, TN, USA.
authors.forename: Baxter P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Rogers
authors.affiliation: InBrain Lab, Department of Physics, Faculty of Philosophy, Sciences and Letters of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Carlos E G
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Salmon
keywords: Wechsler intelligence scales; exploratory data analysis; fMRI; functional connectivity; intelligence; network parameters