Temporal Dynamics Assessment of Spatial Overlap Pattern of Functional Brain Networks Reveals Novel Functional Architecture of Cerebral Cortex

Objective: Various studies in the brain mapping field have demonstrated that there exist multiple concurrent functional networks that are spatially overlapped and interacting with each other during specific task performance to jointly realize the total brain function. Assessing such spatial overlap patterns of functional networks (SOPFNs) based on functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) has thus received increasing interest for brain function studies. However, there are still two crucial issues to be addressed. First, the SOPFNs are assessed over the entire fMRI scan assuming the temporal stationarity, while possibly time-dependent dynamics of the SOPFNs is not sufficiently explored. Second, the SOPFNs are assessed within individual subjects, while group-wise consistency of the SOPFNs is largely unknown. Methods: To address the two issues, we propose a novel computational framework of group-wise sparse representation of whole-brain fMRI temporal segments to assess the temporal dynamic spatial patterns of SOPFNs that are consistent across different subjects. Results: Experimental results based on the recently publicly released Human Connectome Project grayordinate task fMRI data demonstrate that meaningful SOPFNs exhibiting dynamic spatial patterns across different time periods are effectively and robustly identified based on the reconstructed concurrent functional networks via the proposed framework. Specifically, those SOPFNs locate significantly more on gyral regions than on sulcal regions across different time periods. Conclusion: These results reveal novel functional architecture of cortical gyri and sulci. Significance: Moreover, these results help better understand functional dynamics mechanisms of cerebral cortex in the future.