Transcriptomic and macroscopic architectures of intersubject functional variability in human brain white-matter

Jiao Li; Guo-Rong Wu; Bing Li; Feiyang Fan; Xiaopeng Zhao; Yao Meng; Peng Zhong; Siqi Yang; Bharat B Biswal; Huafu Chen; Wei Liao

doi:10.1038/s42003-021-02952-y

Transcriptomic and macroscopic architectures of intersubject functional variability in human brain white-matter

Commun Biol. 2021 Dec 20;4(1):1417. doi: 10.1038/s42003-021-02952-y.

Authors

Jiao Li^{1

2

3}, Guo-Rong Wu⁴, Bing Li^{1

3}, Feiyang Fan^{1

3}, Xiaopeng Zhao^{1

3}, Yao Meng^{1

3}, Peng Zhong^{1

3}, Siqi Yang^{1

3}, Bharat B Biswal^{1

3

5}, Huafu Chen^{6

7

8}, Wei Liao^{9

10}

Affiliations

¹ The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, P.R. China.
² The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, P.R. China.
³ School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, P.R. China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Cognition and Personality, Faculty of Psychology, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, P.R. China.
⁵ Department of Biomedical Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology, Newark, NJ, 07103, USA.
⁶ The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, P.R. China. chenhf@uestc.edu.cn.
⁷ The Center of Psychosomatic Medicine, Sichuan Provincial Center for Mental Health, Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, P.R. China. chenhf@uestc.edu.cn.
⁸ School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, P.R. China. chenhf@uestc.edu.cn.
⁹ The Clinical Hospital of Chengdu Brain Science Institute, MOE Key Laboratory for Neuroinformation, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, P.R. China. weiliao.wl@gmail.com.
¹⁰ School of Life Science and Technology, Center for Information in BioMedicine, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, 611731, P.R. China. weiliao.wl@gmail.com.

Abstract

Intersubject variability is a fundamental characteristic of brain organizations, and not just "noise". Although intrinsic functional connectivity (FC) is unique to each individual and varies across brain gray-matter, the underlying mechanisms of intersubject functional variability in white-matter (WM) remain unknown. This study identified WMFC variabilities and determined the genetic basis and macroscale imaging in 45 healthy subjects. The functional localization pattern of intersubject variability across WM is heterogeneous, with most variability observed in the heteromodal cortex. The variabilities of heteromodal regions in expression profiles of genes are related to neuronal cells, involved in synapse-related and glutamic pathways, and associated with psychiatric disorders. In contrast, genes overexpressed in unimodal regions are mostly expressed in glial cells and were related to neurological diseases. Macroscopic variability recapitulates the functional and structural specializations and behavioral phenotypes. Together, our results provide clues to intersubject variabilities of the WMFC with convergent transcriptomic and cellular signatures, which relate to macroscale brain specialization.

Publication types

Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Brain Mapping
Female
Humans
Male
Transcriptome*
White Matter / metabolism*
White Matter / physiopathology
Young Adult

Grants and funding

U54 MH091657/MH/NIMH NIH HHS/United States