Segregated precuneus network and default mode network in naturalistic imaging

This study compared the responses and functional couplings of PCUN and DMN when participants were watching a movie and examined how the continuity of the movie context modulated the response of the networks. We identified PCUN and DMN in re sting-state fMRI of 48 healthy subjects. The networks’ response to a context-rich video and its context-shuffled version was characterized using the variance of temporal fluctuations and functional connectivity metrics. The results showed that (1) scrambling the contextual information altered the fluctuation level of DMN and PCUN in reversed ways; (2) compared to DMN, the FC within PCUN showed significantly higher sensitivity to the contextual continuity; (3) PCUN exhibited a significantly stronger functional network connectivity with the primary visual regions than DMN. These findings provi de evidence for the distinct functional roles of PCUN and DMN in processing context-rich information and call for separately considering the functions and impairments of these networks in resting-state studies.
Source: Anatomy and Embryology - Category: Anatomy Source Type: research