Human brain state dynamics are highly reproducible and associated with neural and behavioral features

• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002808
• Publication Date: 2024-09-24T17:33:17Z
• Authors: Kangjoo Lee; Jie Lisa Ji; Clara Fonteneau; Lucie Berkovitch; Masih Rahmati; Lining Pan; Grega Repovš; John H. Krystal; John D. Murray; Alan Anticevic
• Keywords: Male; Adult; Brain Mapping; Behavior; QH301-705.5; Brain; Reproducibility of Results; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Young Adult; Cognition; Humans; Female; Biology (General); Research Article

Neural activity and behavior vary within an individual (states) and between individuals (traits). However, the mapping of state-trait neural variation to behavior is not well understood. To address this gap, we quantify moment-to-moment changes in brain-wide co-activation patterns derived from resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging. In healthy young adults, we identify reproducible spatiotemporal features of co-activation patterns at the single-subject level. We demonstrate that a joint analysis of state-trait neural variations and feature reduction reveal general motifs of individual differences, encompassing state-specific and general neural features that exhibit day-to-day variability. The principal neural variations co-vary with the principal variations of behavioral phenotypes, highlighting cognitive function, emotion regulation, alcohol and substance use. Person-specific probability of occupying a particular co-activation pattern is reproducible and associated with neural and behavioral features. This combined analysis of state-trait variations holds promise for developing reproducible neuroimaging markers of individual life functional outcome.