Exploring Functional Interactions between Gyri and Sulci

PI：Liu提案ID：1263524大脑皮层的特征是脑回和脑沟的凸起和凹陷的神经折叠结构。最近，扩散张量成像（DTI）和高角分辨率扩散成像（HARDI）研究表明，连接到脑回的纤维比连接到脑沟的纤维明显更密集。也就是说，在人类皮层中，主要部分纤维连接到脑回。受这一结果的启发，本项目的目标是解剖脑回和脑沟之间的功能相互作用，并建立一个基本的理论框架，可以一致地解释皮质褶皱模式之间的内在关系，结构连接，脑回和脑沟之间的功能相互作用。利用静息态fMRI、基于任务的fMRI和自然刺激的fMRI数据集，本项目将研究脑回-脑回区域之间的功能相互作用强度强、脑回-脑沟区域之间的功能相互作用强度中等、脑沟-脑沟区域之间的功能相互作用强度弱的假设。总之，这些研究的目的是建立一个新的以脑回为中心的功能皮层结构的代表。脑回和脑沟共同功能结构的发现和表征将从根本上推进对大脑的科学理解。皮层脑回和脑沟的功能作用的解剖和分化将改变许多神经成像应用，这些应用依赖于结构基底的准确定义和定位，以进行结构、连接和功能性脑映射。各种基础脑科学研究和神经工程研究将大大受益于大脑皮层结构和功能之间关系的新见解。本计画将对脑回与脑沟的功能架构产生理论上的了解与具体的呈现，为未来研究许多脑部疾病奠定坚实的基础。该项目产生的新颖的教育方法和材料将有助于培养下一代能够面对现实世界问题的科学家和工程师。

PI: LiuProposal ID: 1263524The cerebral cortex is characterized by convex and concave neural folding structures of gyri and sulci. Recently, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and high angular resolution diffusion imaging (HARDI) studies have shown that the fibers connected to gyri are significantly denser, than those connected to sulci. That is, in human cortices, a dominant fraction of fibers are connected to gyri. Inspired by this result, the objective of this project is to dissect the functional interactions between gyri and sulci and establish a fundamental theoretic framework that can consistently explain the intrinsic relationships amongst cortical fold patterns, structural connections, and functional interactions between gyri and sulci. By using resting state fMRI, task-based fMRI and natural stimulus fMRI datasets, this project will investigate the hypothesis that functional interaction strength is strong between gyral-gyral regions, moderate between gyral-sulcal regions, and weak between sulcal-sulcal regions. Altogether, these studies aim to establish a novel gyri-centric representation of functional cortical architecture. The discovery and representation of common functional architecture of gyri and sulci will fundamentally advance scientific understanding of the brain. The dissection and differentiation of functional roles of cortical gyri and sulci will transform numerous neuroimaging applications that rely on accurate definition and localization of structural substrates for structural, connectivity and functional brain mappings. A variety of basic brain science research and neural engineering studies will significantly benefit from the offered novel insights of the relationships between cortical structure and function. This project will produce both theoretic understanding and concrete representation of functional architectures of gyri and sulci, which will lay down solid foundations to study numerous brain disorders in the future. The novel educational approaches and materials generated from this project will contribute to cultivate the next generation of scientists and engineers who are able to face real-world problems.