The role of structural connectivity on brain function through a Markov model of signal transmission.

ABSTRACT: Structure determines function. However, this universal theme in biology has been surprisingly difficult to observe in human brain neuroimaging data. Here, we link structure to function by hypothesizing that brain signals propagate as a Markovian process on an underlying structure. We focus on a metric called commute time: the average number of steps for a random walker to go from region A to B and then back to A. Commute times based on white matter tracts from diffusion MRI exhibit an average ± standard deviation Spearman correlation of -0.26 ± 0.08 with functional MRI connectivity data across 434 UK Biobank individuals and -0.24 ± 0.06 across 400 HCP Young Adult brain scans. The correlation increases to -0.36 ± 0.14 and to -0.32 ± 0.12 when the principal contributions of both commute time

SUBMITTER: Razban RM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11844399 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature