TY  - JOUR
A1  - Hilger, Kirsten
A1  - Ekman, Matthias
A1  - Fiebach, Christian
A1  - Basten, Ulrike
T1  - Intelligence is associated with the modular structure of intrinsic brain networks
T2  - Scientific reports
N2  - General intelligence is a psychological construct that captures in a single metric the overall level of behavioural and cognitive performance in an individual. While previous research has attempted to localise intelligence in circumscribed brain regions, more recent work focuses on functional interactions between regions. However, even though brain networks are characterised by substantial modularity, it is unclear whether and how the brain’s modular organisation is associated with general intelligence. Modelling subject-specific brain network graphs from functional MRI resting-state data (N = 309), we found that intelligence was not associated with global modularity features (e.g., number or size of modules) or the whole-brain proportions of different node types (e.g., connector hubs or provincial hubs). In contrast, we observed characteristic associations between intelligence and node-specific measures of within- and between-module connectivity, particularly in frontal and parietal brain regions that have previously been linked to intelligence. We propose that the connectivity profile of these regions may shape intelligence-relevant aspects of information processing. Our data demonstrate that not only region-specific differences in brain structure and function, but also the network-topological embedding of fronto-parietal as well as other cortical and subcortical brain regions is related to individual differences in higher cognitive abilities, i.e., intelligence.
Y1  - 2017
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/45144
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-451446
VL  - 7
IS  - Nr. 16088
SP  - 1
EP  - 12
ER  -