title: Dynamic reorganization of human resting-state networks during visuospatial attention.
abstract: Fundamental problems in neuroscience today are understanding how patterns of ongoing spontaneous activity are modified by task performance and whether/how these intrinsic patterns influence task-evoked activation and behavior. We examined these questions by comparing instantaneous functional connectivity (IFC) and directed functional connectivity (DFC) changes in two networks that are strongly correlated and segregated at rest: the visual (VIS) network and the dorsal attention network (DAN). We measured how IFC and DFC during a visuospatial attention task, which requires dynamic selective rerouting of visual information across hemispheres, changed with respect to rest. During the attention task, the two networks remained relatively segregated, and their general pattern of within-network correlation was maintained. However, attention induced a decrease of correlation in the VIS network and an increase of the DAN→VIS IFC and DFC, especially in a top-down direction. In contrast, within the DAN, IFC was not modified by attention, whereas DFC was enhanced. Importantly, IFC modulations were behaviorally relevant. We conclude that a stable backbone of within-network functional connectivity topography remains in place when transitioning between resting wakefulness and attention selection. However, relative decrease of correlation of ongoing "idling" activity in visual cortex and synchronization between frontoparietal and visual cortex were behaviorally relevant, indicating that modulations of resting activity patterns are important for task performance. Higher order resting connectivity in the DAN was relatively unaffected during attention, potentially indicating a role for simultaneous ongoing activity as a "prior" for attention selection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science and Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. D'Annunzio, 66100 Chieti, Italy; s.spadone@unich.it.
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Spadone
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science and Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. D'Annunzio, 66100 Chieti, Italy;
authors.forename: Stefania
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5067-4327
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Della Penna
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science and Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. D'Annunzio, 66100 Chieti, Italy;
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sestieri
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science and Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. D'Annunzio, 66100 Chieti, Italy;
authors.forename: Viviana
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Betti
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science and Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. D'Annunzio, 66100 Chieti, Italy;
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tosoni
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science and Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. D'Annunzio, 66100 Chieti, Italy;
authors.forename: Mauro Gianni
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Perrucci
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science and Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. D'Annunzio, 66100 Chieti, Italy;
authors.forename: Gian Luca
authors.initials: GL
authors.lastname: Romani
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, Imaging and Clinical Science and Institute of Advanced Biomedical Technologies, University G. D'Annunzio, 66100 Chieti, Italy; Department of Neurology, Radiology, Anatomy and Neurobiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110.
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Corbetta
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001288:Attention / Q000502:physiology*; D001522:Behavior, Animal; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D014785:Vision, Ocular / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: attention networks; directional connectivity; functional connectivity; resting-state networks; task-evoked activity