Brain connectomics: time for a molecular imaging perspective?

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Arianna Sala, Technical University of Munich; Aldana Lizarraga, Technical University of Munich; Silvia Paola Caminiti, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele; Vince Calhoun, Emory University; Simon B. Eickhoff, Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH; Christian Habeck, Columbia University; Sharna D. Jamadar, Monash University; Daniela Perani, Università Vita-Salute San Raffaele; Joana B. Pereira, Technical University of Munich; Mattia Veronese, King's College London; Igor Yakushev, Technical University of Munich
• Language: English
• Date: 2023-04-01
• Publisher: Cell Press
• Publication Version: Author Accepted Manuscript (After Peer Review)
• Copyright Statement: © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2022.11.015
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Trends in Cognitive Sciences
• Volume: 27
• Issue: 4
• Start Page: 353
• End Page: 366
• Grant/Funding Information: A.S. is funded by the Belgian National Fund for Scientific Research [grant 40001328, Chargée de Recherches Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (FRS)/Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique (FNRS)/Université de Liège/Coma Science Group GIGA]. V.D.C. is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH; R01MH118695) and the National Science Foundation (21124550). S.B.E. is funded by the EU Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Program [grant agreements 945539 (HBP SGA3) and 826421 (VBC)] and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (SFB 1451, IRTG 2150). M.V. is funded by the Ministero dell’istruzione, dell’università e della ricerca (MIUR) under the initiative ‘Departments of Excellence’ (Law 232/2016), by a Wellcome Trust Digital Award (215747/Z/19/Z), and by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Biomedical Research Centre at South London and Maudsley National Health Service Foundation Trust and King’s College London. J.B.P. is funded by the Swedish Research Council. S.D.J. is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Fellowship (APP1174164).; The National Alzheimer’s Coordinating Center (NACC) database is funded by National Institute on Aging/NIH (grant U24 AG072122). NACC data are contributed by the NIA-funded Alzheimer’s Disease Research Centers (ADCs): P50 AG005131 (PI James Brewer), P50 AG005133 (PI Oscar Lopez), P50 AG005134 (PI Bradley Hyman), P50 AG005136 (PI Thomas Grabowski), P50 AG005138 (PI Mary Sano), P50 AG005142 (PI Helena Chui), P50 AG005146 (PI Marilyn Albert), P50 AG005681 (PI John Morris), P30 AG008017 (PI Jeffrey Kaye), P30 AG008051 (PI Thomas Wisniewski), P50 AG008702 (PI Scott Small), P30 AG010124 (PI John Trojanowski), P30 AG010129 (PI Charles DeCarli), P30 AG010133 (PI Andrew Saykin), P30 AG010161 (PI David Bennett), P30 AG012300 (PI Roger Rosenberg), P30 AG013846 (PI Neil Kowall), P30 AG013854 (PI Robert Vassar), P50 AG016573 (PI Frank LaFerla), P50 AG016574 (PI Ronald Petersen), P30 AG019610 (PI Eric Reiman), P50 AG023501 (PI Bruce Miller), P50 AG025688 (PI Allan Levey), P30 AG028383 (PI Linda Van Eldik), P50 AG033514 (PI Sanjay Asthana), P30 AG035982 (PI Russell Swerdlow), P50 AG047266 (PI Todd Golde), P50 AG047270 (PI Stephen Strittmatter), P50 AG047366 (PI Victor Henderson), P30 AG049638 (PI Suzanne Craft), P30 AG053760 (PI Henry Paulson), P30 AG066546 (PI Sudha Seshadri), P20 AG068024 (PI Erik Roberson), P20 AG068053 (PI Marwan Sabbagh), P20 AG068077 (PI Gary Rosenberg), P20 AG068082 (PI Angela Jefferson), P30 AG072958 (PI Heather Whitson), P30 AG072959 (PI James Leverenz).
• Keywords: PET; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; connectivity; Humans; networks; Reproducibility of Results; Molecular Imaging; positron emission tomography; magnetic resonance imaging; electroencephalography; Connectome; Brain
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Radiology; Biology, Neuroscience

Abstract

In the past two decades brain connectomics has evolved into a major concept in neuroscience. However, the current perspective on brain connectivity and how it underpins brain function relies mainly on the hemodynamic signal of functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Molecular imaging provides unique information inaccessible to MRI-based and electrophysiological techniques. Thus, positron emission tomography (PET) has been successfully applied to measure neural activity, neurotransmission, and proteinopathies in normal and pathological cognition. Here, we position molecular imaging within the brain connectivity framework from the perspective of timeliness, validity, reproducibility, and resolution. We encourage the neuroscientific community to take an integrative approach whereby MRI-based, electrophysiological techniques, and molecular imaging contribute to our understanding of the brain connectome.