Thread by @StephForkel

@MichelTdS and I wrote a #review on the last decade of #brain #connectivity #research for a special issue in @ScienceMagazine : 'circuits create networks by stringing together many brain regions to orchestrate brain symphony conducted by finely attuned connections.' A 🧵

First things first, the #cover shows that the corpus callosum has different axonal calibres, as shown in a cross-section of the axons. Warmer colours (red-yellow) indicate thicker axons. These finely attuned connections allow for the perfect orchestration of the brain symphony.

There is a growing consensus: functions are an emerging property of the interaction between brain areas. Function-specific brain activity involves the integrative effort of several brain regions. White matter connections support this integration by interconnecting brain regions

There is, however, more to brain connections than the mere transfer of signals between brain regions. Connections can amplify or reduce brain signals and determine the brain’s cortical structure and function.

Connectivity can also shed light on mechanisms of brain evolution: multiple studies compared different primate species to understand human uniqueness and shed light on the mechanisms involved in its evolution.

In clinical settings, the consideration of disruptions to brain connections (#disconnection) provides a more comprehensive biological interpretation of clinical manifestations concerning the disintegration of brain processes.

Going forward, we need to consolidate these new concepts by developing dedicated software, which provides us with additional resources to sharpen our observations.

These tools can represent high-dimensional data in the same latent space as anatomical information across #scales, across #species, and across imaging #modalities (#tracing, #tractography, #PLI) while accounting for #neurovariability.

Researchers should create professional #networks, integrate ideas, and openly #share data. These endeavours will push brain connectivity research to integrate across imaging modalities, formulate new frameworks, and foster our understanding of brain development and evolution.

It will take an integrative system of people (consortium) to decipher this complex system within us all and discover the emergent properties of the brain.