title: Lateral Prefrontal Cortex Contributes to Fluid Intelligence Through Multinetwork Connectivity.
abstract: Our ability to effectively adapt to novel circumstances--as measured by general fluid intelligence--has recently been tied to the global connectivity of lateral prefrontal cortex (LPFC). Global connectivity is a broad measure that summarizes both within-network connectivity and across-network connectivity. We used additional graph theoretical measures to better characterize the nature of LPFC connectivity and its relationship with fluid intelligence. We specifically hypothesized that LPFC is a connector hub with an across-network connectivity that contributes to fluid intelligence independent of within-network connectivity. We verified that LPFC was in the top 10% of brain regions in terms of across-network connectivity, suggesting it is a strong connector hub. Importantly, we found that the LPFC across-network connectivity predicted individuals' fluid intelligence and this correlation remained statistically significant when controlling for global connectivity (which includes within-network connectivity). This supports the conclusion that across-network connectivity independently contributes to the relationship between LPFC connectivity and intelligence. These results suggest that LPFC contributes to fluid intelligence by being a connector hub with a truly global multisystem connectivity throughout the brain.
authors.affiliation: 1 Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University , Newark, New Jersey.|2 Psychology Department, Washington University in St. Louis , St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Michael W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.affiliation: 1 Center for Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience, Rutgers University , Newark, New Jersey.
authors.forename: Takuya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: 2 Psychology Department, Washington University in St. Louis , St. Louis, Missouri.
authors.forename: Todd S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Braver
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001921:Brain / Q000502:physiology; D001931:Brain Mapping / Q000379:methods; D063132:Connectome / Q000379:methods; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence / Q000502:physiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods; D008297:Male; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009415:Nerve Net / Q000502:physiology; D017397:Prefrontal Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: fMRI; functional connectivity; graph theory; individual differences; intelligence; prefrontal cortex; resting-state functional connectivity