Mesoscopic architecture enhances communication across the Macaque connectome revealing structure-function correspondence in the brain

TL;DR

This study reveals that mesoscopic modular architecture in the Macaque brain's connectome facilitates rapid communication and is conserved across different brain regions, highlighting structure-function relationships beyond mere physical proximity.

Contribution

It provides a detailed mesoscopic-level description of the Macaque connectome, demonstrating the role of modular architecture in efficient brain communication and its structural conservation.

Findings

Modules are densely interconnected and functionally specialized.

Physical proximity alone does not explain modular organization.

Modular architecture promotes rapid, global communication.

Abstract

Analyzing the brain in terms of organizational structures at intermediate scales provides an approach to negotiate the complexity arising from interactions between its large number of components. Focusing on a wiring diagram that spans the cortex, basal ganglia and thalamus of the Macaque brain, we provide a mesoscopic-level description of the topological architecture of one of the most well-studied mammalian connectomes. The robust modules we identify each comprise densely inter-connected cortical and sub-cortical areas that play complementary roles in executing specific cognitive functions. We find that physical proximity between areas is insufficient to explain the modular organization, as similar mesoscopic structures can be obtained even after factoring out the effect of distance constraints on the connectivity. We observe that the distribution profile of brain areas, classified in terms of their intra- and inter-modular connectivity, is conserved across the principal cortical subdivisions, as well as, sub-cortical structures. In particular provincial hubs, which have significantly higher number of connections with members of their module, but relatively less well-connected to other modules, are the only class that exhibits homophily, i.e., a discernible preference to connect to each other. By considering a process of diffusive propagation we demonstrate that this architecture, instead of localizing the activity, facilitates rapid communication across the connectome. By supplementing the topological information about the Macaque connectome with physical locations, volumes and functions of the constituent areas and analyzing this augmented dataset, we reveal a counter-intuitive role played by the modular architecture of the brain in promoting global interaction.