Redefining the connectome: A multi-modal, asymmetric, weighted, and signed description of anatomical connectivity

Abstract

The macroscale connectome is the network of physical, white-matter tracts between brain areas. The connections are generally weighted and their values interpreted as measures of communication efficacy. In most applications, weights are either assigned based on imaging features–e.g. diffusion parameters–or inferred using statistical models. In reality, the ground-truth weights are unknown, motivating the exploration of alternative edge weighting schemes. Here, we explore a multi-modal (combining diffusion and functional MRI data) regression-based, explanatory model that endows reconstructed fiber tracts with directed and signed weights. Benchmarking this method on Human Connectome Project data, we find that the model fits observed data well, outperforming a suite of null models. The estimated weights are subject-specific and highly reliable, even when fit using relatively few training samples. Next, we analyze the resulting network using graph-theoretic tools from network neuroscience, revealing bilaterally symmetric communities that span cerebral hemispheres. These communities exhibit a clear mapping onto known functional systems. We also study the shortest paths structure of this network, discovering that almost every edge participates in at least one shortest path. We also find evidence of robust asymmetries in edge weights, that the network reconfigures in response to naturalistic stimuli, and that estimated edge weights differ with age. In summary, we offer a simple framework for weighting connectome data, demonstrating both its ease of implementation while benchmarking its utility for typical connectome analyses, including graph theoretic modeling and brain-behavior associations.