CAREER: Elucidating the role of brain hubs in task control

人类大脑由许多区域组成，这些区域通过大量的轴突（神经纤维）相互交流，形成多个连锁网络。“中枢”大脑区域，很像机场枢纽，与许多不同的区域和网络有大脑连接，形成一个复杂的神经连接网络。中枢广泛参与各种认知功能。由于它们广泛的连接，中枢被很好地定位为连接大脑中执行和任务控制所需的功能（根据我们的目标灵活地指导思想和行动的能力）。在日常生活中，任务控制对于实现短期目标（例如，早起并按时上班）和长期目标（例如，学习道路规则和练习监督驾驶以学习如何驾驶并获得驾驶执照）都是至关重要的。任务控制需要大脑灵活地协调相关的感觉、运动和认知功能来实现这些目标。这项研究探索了大脑的中枢区域如何帮助组织和协调这些任务控制功能。基于非侵入性人类神经成像数据（使用fMRI -功能性磁共振成像）的网络神经科学方法可用于识别和阐明脑中枢区域的连通性。先前的研究表明，这些中枢区域的损伤会导致广泛的大脑断开连接，并对行为和大脑相互作用产生强大的影响。然而，大脑中枢在任务控制中的功能作用仍然知之甚少，就其在任务上下文中的特异性和在表示任务信息方面的作用而言。本研究探讨了健康受试者在不同行为背景和跨多任务中如何以及何时使用脑中枢，并调查了中枢组织的个体差异的影响。本项目在三个相互关联的研究目标中，使用功能磁共振成像（fMRI）测量中心的连通性和任务相关激活，以：(1)确定中心如何在不同的任务上下文和任务难度水平中调节信息流；(2)确定中心是否以及以何种特异性代表任务参数；(3)确定中心组织的个体差异是否与任务控制功能的个体差异相关。这项研究加深了我们对中枢功能作用的理解，从而对未来如何针对大脑中枢来提高目标的实现产生潜在的见解。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

The human brain is made up of many regions that communicate with one another with an extensive array of axons (nerve fibers), forming multiple interlocking networks. “Hub” brain regions, much like airport hubs, have brain connections to many different regions and networks, forming a complex web of neural connections. Hubs participate widely across a diverse set of cognitive functions. Because of their widespread connections, hubs are well positioned to link functions across the brain as needed for executive and task control (the ability to flexibly guide thoughts and actions depending on our goals). Task control is vitally important for achieving both short-term goals (e.g., waking up early and carrying out a morning routine to get to work on time) and long-term goals (e.g., studying rules of the road and practicing supervised driving in order to learn how to drive and obtain a driver’s license) in everyday life. Task control requires that the brain flexibly coordinate relevant sensory, motor and cognitive functions to achieve those goals. This research explores how hub regions of the brain help to organize and coordinate these task control functions.Network neuroscience methods, based on non-invasive human neuroimaging data (using fMRI – functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging), can be used to identify, and elucidate the connectivity of brain hub regions. Prior work has shown that damage to these hub regions leads to widespread brain disconnections, and has a powerful impact on behavior and on brain interactions. However, the functional role of brain hubs in task control is still poorly understood, in terms of their specificity across task contexts and their role in representing task information. This research explores how and when brain hubs are used in different behavioral contexts and across multiple tasks in healthy subjects, and investigates the impact of individual differences in hub organization. This project uses fMRI to measure the connectivity, and task-related activation of hubs, in three inter-related research objectives to: (1) determine how hubs modulate information flow across diverse task contexts and task difficulty levels, (2) determine whether and with what specificity hubs represent task parameters, and (3) determine whether individual differences in hub organization relate to individual differences in task control functions. This investigation deepens our understanding of the functional role of hubs - leading to potential future insights into how brain hubs may be targeted to improve goal achievement.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.