Surface-Based Connectivity Integration: An atlas-free approach to jointly study functional and structural connectivity.

ABSTRACT: There has been increasing interest in jointly studying structural connectivity (SC) and functional connectivity (FC) derived from diffusion and functional MRI. Previous connectome integration studies almost exclusively required predefined atlases. However, there are many potential atlases to choose from and this choice heavily affects all subsequent analyses. To avoid such an arbitrary choice, we propose a novel atlas-free approach, named Surface-Based Connectivity Integration (SBCI), to more accurately study the relationships between SC and FC throughout the intra-cortical gray matter. SBCI represents both SC and FC in a continuous manner on the white surface, avoiding the need for prespecified atlases. The continuous SC is represented as a probability density function and is smoothed for

SUBMITTER: Cole M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8249904 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature