Summary: A new computational model sheds light on how personal brain structure can influence our cognitive performance on language based tasks.

Source: University at Buffalo.

The architecture of each person’s brain is unique, and differences may influence how quickly people can complete various cognitive tasks.

But how neuroanatomy impacts performance is largely an open question.

To learn more, scientists are developing a new tool — computational models of the brain — to simulate how the structure of the brain may impact brain activity and, ultimately, human behavior. The research focuses on interconnectivity within the brain, looking at how different regions are linked to and interact with one another (traits that vary between individuals).

In an initial proof-of-concept study, a team led by University at Buffalo mathematician Sarah Muldoon finds that this approach shows promise for understanding the interplay between brain structure and performance on language-related tasks. The research was published in PLOS Computational Biology on Oct. 17.

“We are creating these personalized brain network models to understand what the brain is doing, based on how connected different regions of a person’s brain are to one another,” says first author Kanika Bansal, a postdoctoral researcher jointly working at UB, the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL) and Columbia University.

“Models like this are powerful tools because they allow us to conduct ‘in silico’ experiments to understand brain function on a personal basis,” adds Muldoon, PhD, assistant professor of mathematics in the UB College of Arts and Sciences and a faculty member in UB’s Computational and Data-Enabled Science and Engineering and neuroscience programs.



The power of a personalized brain model

In the new study, researchers created data-driven mathematical models of the individual brains of 10 people based on diffusion spectrum images which capture the structural wiring of the subjects’ actual brains.

Scientists then used the models to learn about each person’s brain, including:

How easily the brain jumps into an active state when it’s stimulated.

Which brain regions become synchronized, exhibiting similar activity, when the left inferior frontal gyrus, an area of the brain important to language, is stimulated.

The research identified some relationships between these characteristics of the brain and how quickly people were able to carry out three language-demanding tasks: saying the first verb that came to mind when presented with a noun; filling in a missing word in a sentence; and reading a large number. (Each participant completed each activity multiple times before and after receiving transcranial magnetic stimulation to the left inferior frontal gyrus.)

While small, the study demonstrates the potential of data-driven modeling for learning about the link between brain structure and task performance.

Possible applications in treating disease, enhancing performance

Developing personalized models of brain activity could not only improve neuroscience research, but also spur advancements in using brain stimulation to treat disease or enhancing human performance on various tasks.

“It’s important to create biologically inspired ways to predict individual responses to brain stimulation,” says co-author John Medaglia, PhD, assistant professor of psychology at Drexel University and adjunct assistant professor of neurology at the University of Pennsylvania. “The attractive idea here is that we can examine complex activity in each person’s brain networks. Then, we can define relatively simple measures that are strongly related to real-world performance. This balance between simulating complex processes and making simple predictions is necessary to drive brain stimulation research forward.”

“The Army has a challenge of creating Soldier systems at large scale for the thousands of military who protect our civilians around the world,” says co-author Jean Vettel, PhD, a senior science lead at ARL who is also affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania and University of California, Santa Barbara, “and this means that systems have to be designed for the most general skills across Soldiers. As exemplified in this work, ARL research strives to find new approaches to robustly quantify differences among Soldiers in a way that would allow development of individualized systems to capitalize on the unique expertise of each Soldier.”

In both medical treatment and task performance, understanding individuals’ brains — as opposed to the human brain in general — could have benefits, the authors say. This is because variations in the architecture and function of the brain may influence how the organ responds to neurostimulation, leading to different results for different people.

About this neuroscience research article

Danielle Bassett, Eduardo D. Glandt Faculty Fellow and associate professor of bioengineering and of electrical and systems engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, contributed to the study. She is also affiliated with the University of Pennsylvania departments of neurology, and physics and astronomy.

Funding: The research was funded by mission funding to ARL, with certain authors supported by the MacArthur Foundation, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and National Institute of Mental Health.

Source: Charlotte Hsu – University at Buffalo

Publisher: Organized by NeuroscienceNews.com.

Image Source: NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Bansal et al., PLOS Computational Biology, October 2018.

Original Research: Open access research for “Data-driven brain network models differentiate variability across language tasks” by Kanika Bansal, John D. Medaglia, Danielle S. Bassett, Jean M. Vettel, and Sarah F. Muldoon in PLOS Computational Biology. Published October 17 2018.

doi:10.1371/journal.pcbi.1006487

Cite This NeuroscienceNews.com Article

[cbtabs][cbtab title=”MLA”]University at Buffalo”How Brain Structure Influences Performance on Language Tasks.” NeuroscienceNews. NeuroscienceNews, 17 October 2018.

<https://neurosciencenews.com/language-brain-structure-10041/>.[/cbtab][cbtab title=”APA”]University at Buffalo(2018, October 17). How Brain Structure Influences Performance on Language Tasks. NeuroscienceNews. Retrieved October 17, 2018 from https://neurosciencenews.com/language-brain-structure-10041/[/cbtab][cbtab title=”Chicago”]University at Buffalo”How Brain Structure Influences Performance on Language Tasks.” https://neurosciencenews.com/language-brain-structure-10041/ (accessed October 17, 2018).[/cbtab][/cbtabs]

Abstract

Data-driven brain network models differentiate variability across language tasks

The relationship between brain structure and function has been probed using a variety of approaches, but how the underlying structural connectivity of the human brain drives behavior is far from understood. To investigate the effect of anatomical brain organization on human task performance, we use a data-driven computational modeling approach and explore the functional effects of naturally occurring structural differences in brain networks. We construct personalized brain network models by combining anatomical connectivity estimated from diffusion spectrum imaging of individual subjects with a nonlinear model of brain dynamics. By performing computational experiments in which we measure the excitability of the global brain network and spread of synchronization following a targeted computational stimulation, we quantify how individual variation in the underlying connectivity impacts both local and global brain dynamics. We further relate the computational results to individual variability in the subjects’ performance of three language-demanding tasks both before and after transcranial magnetic stimulation to the left-inferior frontal gyrus. Our results show that task performance correlates with either local or global measures of functional activity, depending on the complexity of the task. By emphasizing differences in the underlying structural connectivity, our model serves as a powerful tool to assess individual differences in task performances, to dissociate the effect of targeted stimulation in tasks that differ in cognitive demand, and to pave the way for the development of personalized therapeutics.

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