The Low-Dimensional Neural Architecture of Cognitive Complexity Is Related to Activity in Medial Thalamic Nuclei

• DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2019.09.002
• Publication Date: 2019-10-22T14:40:44Z
• Authors: James M. Shine; Luke J. Hearne; Michael Breakspear; Kai Hwang; Eli J. Müller; Olaf Sporns; Russell A. Poldrack; Jason B. Mattingley; Luca Cocchi
• Keywords: 2800 Neuroscience; Adult; Male; 120; Adolescent; Mediodorsal Thalamic Nucleus; fMRI; cognitive complexity; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Young Adult; 03 medical and health sciences; Cognition; 0302 clinical medicine; thalamus; Humans; state-space; Female; low-dimensionality

Cognitive activity emerges from large-scale neuronal dynamics that are constrained to a low-dimensional manifold. How this low-dimensional manifold scales with cognitive complexity, and which brain regions regulate this process, are not well understood. We addressed this issue by analyzing sub-second high-field fMRI data acquired during performance of a task that systematically varied the complexity of cognitive reasoning. We show that task performance reconfigures the low-dimensional manifold and that deviations from these patterns relate to performance errors. We further demonstrate that individual differences in thalamic activity relate to reconfigurations of the low-dimensional architecture during task engagement.